Rite Of Passage
by Flying By Wire
Summary: Sora Hikari has always lived the perfect life, wealth, a kind family, but on the day of his eighteenth birthday, everything changed. Rated T for language and violence
1. The Day That Everything Changed

**Thank you again to all those people who reviewed on the final chapter of my last story, Savior From My Lonesome Self. And I hope you'll enjoy this new story as well.**

**This time will be different, however, as I don't have any other chapters pre-written, so it may take a bit longer to update at times, but I hope you'll put up with me and be patient.**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy or anything else like that, just the story is my own.**

**Enjoy**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

**The Day That Everything Changed**

Darkness.

That was the only way to describe the void. Complete darkness, not a single light in sight for miles.

"The time has finally come." A deep voice rang from within the shadows.

"The boy isn't even at the correct age for it to begin. He's not ready!" Another voice growled irritably.

"Age is of no importance, we need him now and that's that," The other voice stated bluntly. "It is time to awaken... Sora."

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><p>Bright blue eyes shot open as the boy they belonged to sprang upwards in his bed from his sleep, breathing heavily with sweat dripping down his neck and toned, shirtless chest. He ran a hand through his bed head of spiky brunette hair and sighed.<p>

"That dream again," He breathed, his eyes tiredly yet nervously looking about his bedroom, as if looking for something out of place.

The bedroom was certainly bigger than most others, the walls were a dark shade of blue with white curtains draped around the window next to the bed which matched the brunette's eyes. Off to the corner farthest away from the bed was the door leading to the rest of the home. Directly across from the bed- more or less in the middle of the distance between the door and the corner across from it- was a large, black and white desk with a small black office chair, a computer and several notebooks.

However, one of the notebooks had a ribbon on it, which caught the brunette's eye. He stood rather shakily from his bed- still groggy from sleep- and made his way over to the desk and picked up the notebook. It was more of a journal really; a diary of sorts according to the card that was attached to it, it read:

_Son,_

_Today you are officially a man, being eighteen is always an adventure and becoming eighteen is only the beginning. I know you've spoken once before how you'd like to look back on old memories you treasure; so I found for you this journal to chronicle your coming memories- or past if you wish._

_And by the way, never refer to or let anyone else refer to it as a diary, diaries are girly anyhow._

_Happy birthday son._

_With love, your father_

The teenager- no, adult- smiled warmly at the letter as if he were looking at his own father. He pulled out the small office chair and sat down, taking the ribbon off the journal and opening it to the first page. His father had written a small message on the back of the cover.

_Never lose this journal, for it will be the only thing to keep you sane._

The brunette raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. _Keep me sane? What does that mean?_

He shrugged it off, he could always just ask him later when he came home from work. There was a pencil already inside the journal as well, his father must've written the message last minute. He picked up the pencil slowly and tapped his chin with it in thought.

"Hmm... Might as well write a first entry," He said to himself. "I guess it should be like an introduction though, right?" He thought aloud, seemed about right. He shrugged indifferently and began writing.

_July 17, 2012_

_My name is Sora Hikari. Today is my 18th birthday. Damn right I'm an adult now. I just got this diary- 'scuse me, journal- from my father, Vanitas as a gift. He and my mother, Aerith, actually both work at the same company together; my father designs weapons while my mother designs camouflage for SOLDIER. And I guess today is pretty much the start of my new life as an adult too. Probably means I'll have to start working there with them. Although... I had that weird dream again, the one with the empty voices in darkness._

Sora paused for moment, thinking of what else he could write. Minutes passed and he just sighed in defeat.

"Oh well, I'll just write more later." He sighed again, standing up from his chair and stretching tiredly.

"No getting back to sleep now, might as well get dressed," He finished stretching and raised an eyebrow, running a hand through his hair. "And I have _got_ to stop talking to myself." He sighed.

The brunette was interrupted from his thoughts when a series of knocks came to his door. Sora made his way to the door and opened it to find a girl with bright blue hair with blue eyes to match and in a simple maid outfit. She smiled warmly at Sora with something in her hands.

"Good morning young master Sora," She began, but Sora stopped her by raising a hand. "Please Aqua, you know titles aren't necessary, besides, I'm nowhere near a master." He smirked as the girl known as 'Aqua' laughed a bit.

"Very well, sir," She said, smirking at the 'title' she just said in site of his wishes. "I brought these clothes for you. Your mother made them herself as a present to you." She held up said clothes and handed them to Sora.

He grinned widely as he examined his new outfit. It consisted of a sleeveless shirt, a short-sleeve jacket to go over it, and pants that would possibly only reach his calves and poof out at the bottom.

The shirt was simple, a black v-neck shape with a white rim and at the bottom was a sort of red pocket in the center that was split down the middle like some zip-up jackets you see these days.

The jacket was also black, had a zipper and silver shoulder guards and had pockets with a white rim. The hood was a dark blue-almost black as well- while the inside of the hood was white, hidden under the hood on either side of the jacket yet poking out from the hood were yellow straps that seemed to only be there for decoration.

The pants were just as black as the rest of Sora's new attire, the crotch area was a deep blue with a white rim, there was also a white line around where Sora's knees would be and where it naturally puffed out.

Sora closed with mouth which seemed to had been agape and grinned at Aqua who was still standing next to grinning brunette. "It's...," He began, unsure of what words could possibly express his amazement.

"Awesome?" Aqua suggested, Sora nodded quickly. "Very good then, I also have something else for you, from myself actually." Aqua smiled, laying a hand on her chest as if proving she was the one she referred to as 'myself'. She handed Sora something from behind her back.

They seemed to be merely a couple yellow belts strung together, but at closer inspection it appeared to be four different belts, two of each attached to some kind of large red attachable pockets with large, black X's over the front of them.

"Aqua, you didn't have to get me anything." Sora frowned, hugging the maid in gratitude nonetheless. Aqua hugged the brunette back and merely waved off his protest. "Nonsense sir, I had to do it. You're going to need them in the future."

Aqua began walking away and Sora stared at the pockets in confusion. "I will?" He muttered to himself, suddenly the dark X's on them caught his eye. "Wait, Aqua! What do these X's here mean?" He called out, pointing at the pockets in question. The blue-haired maid merely smiled knowingly at the brunette before walking away once more.

"You'll find out soon enough."

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><p>"'You'll find out soon enough', huh? What's with all these riddles today?" Sora sighed as he finished getting dressed for the day. The final touches being the pockets Aqua gave him. They connected to the belt holding his pants up, crossing over each other both in the front and back of his pants and stopped at the pockets which rested on his thighs. The other two belts wrapped around each leg and connected to the other side of the pockets.<p>

Sora admired his accomplishment in the mirror, it was quite a hassle putting the outfit together with all the belts and straps, in fact he even found fingerless gloves hidden within the clothing as well. They were black with dark blue plating covering his knuckles, the plating held onto his gloves by two white straps crossing over each other on either side of his hands and yellow straps around the wrists.

Grinning to himself, Sora ran out of his room and down the many hallways that led to wear his mother, Aerith, could be.

Sooner than later he skidded to a stop in the kitchen, his socks allowing him to slide across the floor for a moment. Sora spotted the familiar head of long brown hair tied in a long braid that was his mother's from where she sat at the table with a cup of warm tea, reading a book peacefully. Her green eyes pulled away from the printed words for a moment and she smiled at the sight of her son.

"Good morning honey, happy birthday." She stood from her seat and hugged Sora as tight as she could.

"Thanks mom, but I uh... can't... breath." Sora choked out, squirming under her embrace. Aerith apologized and released the gasping brunette. "Ooh! You look fantastic in your new clothes! And Aqua did terrific with her pockets as well!" She squealed, Sora laughed and scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Aw mom, thanks, but what's with the shoulder guards and stuff? I mean, I look like I'm fighting for my country or something." He joked.

"Oh Sora, but it's much more than that," She smiled, handing the younger brunette a cup of tea laying on the counter for him. "Today marks a big turning point in your life, things are going to changing and you may not be able to control them, you'll have to be prepared for anything." Aerith said knowingly, as if foreseeing what could possibly happen to Sora for him to need to need armored clothing.

Sora thought about it for a moment and shrugged off his confusion absent-mindedly, taking a big sip of his tea in satisfaction, the warm taste spreading throughout his entire body.

"So what do we have planned today?" Sora asked as the two sat at the table. His mother took a small sip of her tea.

"Nothing until your father gets home from work today, we may work at the same place but we still get different days off," She sighed, it always troubled her that the family couldn't have as much time altogether as they wished. "Until he gets home you can wander around town if you like, maybe find a cute girl." She winked and giggled as Sora spat out his choked tea like a hose in embarrassment.

"Mom!" Sora whined, blushing. "Okay Okay, I'm sorry sweetie," She fought back her giggles as Sora huffed in annoyance. "But really, have some fun while you can today." She smiled warmly at the brunette who nodded slowly.

Sora downed the rest of his tea and jumped from his seat. "Thanks mom, see you later!" He grinned as he ran to the door to put on his shoes.

"Oh, wait a minute Sora! I made you these to go along with your outfit as well." Aerith called out as she hurried over to Sora with a pair of big, dark shoes in hand. Like the rest of Sora's new clothes, they were also covered in small belts with a zipper going down the middle. Sora grinned.

"Thanks mom," He hugged his mother tightly, slid his shoes on and rushed out the door. "I'll be back!" He called out.

Aerith stared at the empty doorway and sighed, a small tear escaping her eye.

"Oh Sora, honey, if only that were true..."

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><p>"Hey, watch it Sora!" An angered delivery man growled when a familiar brunette came running past him, nearly making the man drop the heavy crate full of fruit he was carrying. One of the fruits went flying out of the crate and rolled to a stop near Sora's shoe.<p>

"Sorry about that Jim." He grinned, picking up the fruit, placing it back in the crate and taking it from the man who sighed in relief and bent backwards to pop his back. Thanking the brunette as he placed the crate on the man's fruit stand.

"It's no problem kid, just be more careful next time, nice duds by the way, Aerith make 'em for ya?" Jim questioned, smirking when Sora laughed and nodded.

"Well I gotta go Jim, see you later!" Sora waved, but felt something fall in his hand, he looked to find it was one of the fruits. Turned out they were dumbapples, judging by the purple color, which was one of Sora's favorite fruits.

"Happy birthday Sora." Jim grinned at the brunette before disappearing behind his fruit stand. Sora smiled and pocketed the fruit and ran off toward the tallest building in the city: the clock tower.

Sora and his family lived in Twilight Town, one of the richest towns in the country- in both import/export, and sights. The sunsets and architecture were truly a sight to see all in its own glory.

The brunette eventually made his way to the clock tower, gazing upon its vast height with a grin on his face. There was once a staircase leading to the top of it, but there was a murder investigation going on inside of it at the moment so the stairs were blocked off.

While the tower was Sora's original target to see the sunset today, there were always other ways to view it, he ran toward the tunnel that was wedged between the tower and a small building.

While the tunnels may be a bit unsettling at times, they were still fun to explore in and a quick way to reach the other side of Twilight Town quickly.

The brunette maneuvered his way through the tunnels, being met with a dirt road leading up to Sunset Hill- another popular viewing spot for the sunset. Sora made his way up the hill just in time to see the bright yellow orb that was the sun slowly disappearing bit by bit below the horizon.

The brunette smiled as he pulled his dumbapple out of his pocket, holding it up to the sky.

"To becoming an adult." He said, lowering the fruit and taking a large bite of it. The sweet taste spread throughout his body, smirking to himself.

Suddenly Sora was interrupted from his tranquility when he could feel the ground shake violently momentarily and loud booms in the distance, causing him to fall to the ground, the dumbapple he cherished flying out of his hand and falling over the cliff down to the train tracks below.

"Ow... what the hell was that?" Sora groaned, rubbing his aching head as he stood up to regain his composure.

Looking over in the direction past the tunnels, the brunette gasped in horror. There had apparently been an explosion; two of them even, and they were big ones too. However, it wasn't the sizes of them that really caught the brunette's attention- it was the locations.

Without a second thought, Sora ran as fast as he could down the hill and back through the tunnels, past the market where his friend Jim had abandoned his fruit stand in a panic.

The brunette skidded to a stop in front of his home- or what was once his home anyway- that was in flames, half of the large building had already been blown away by the explosion. Without hesitation, Sora rushed inside to find survivors; like Aqua, or his mother.

The inside was at least ten times warmer than it was outside; flames were all over the building, engulfing everything in its path at a rapid pace.

"Mom! Aqua! Anyone here?" Sora yelled, running and dodging flames as he went. "Hello?"

The brunette froze in his tracks when he spotted a figure on the ground under the weight of support beams from the house that had fallen on them, the figure sprawled over the ground, completely still. Sora gasped in fear. "Mom!"

He was by his mother's side in an instant, already pushing the debris that had fallen on her and pulling her out of the way to the outside of the house once more, laying her on the cement and turning her over to face him.

"Mom! Mom, please wake up!" Sora cried, squeezing Aerith's hand as tightly as he could. Emerald eyes slowly cracked open.

"Sora, honey, you're okay...," She said weakly, her voice cracking slightly with tears brimming her eyes.

"Mom, what happened? Who did this?" Sora questioned rapidly, whoever did this would surely pay dearly. Aerith shook her head slowly, slowly raising her free hand to touch Sora's face.

"Sora, it's time for you to make the next step," She breathed, she reached into her clothes and pulled out the journal from his father. "Always keep it with you, stay safe. I love you honey...," The hand she had on Sora's cheek then fell limp onto the ground as she breather her last breath; her eyes closed for the last time.

Sora's breath hitched. "Mom. Mom? Hey come on, this isn't funny, wake up," Sora smiled, hoping she would sit up again and joke around about this whole mess. Tears were streaming down his cheeks even more when there was still no response. "Mom! You can't be gone!"

The brunette remained in that position for what seemed like hours, sobbing heavily and holding his mother close to himself. Eventually he finally lay her down, a safe distance away from the still burning home.

He picked up the journal, the leathery texture rough in his hands as he put it in his pocket with a sorrowful expression.

"I have to find dad." he muttered, then realizing where the other explosion had been; the company where his parents worked- where his father had been all day. Looking over to find the building already on fire and slowly collapsing, Sora ran as fast as he could to see if his father was still alive.

Sora reached the now almost completely collapsed building, bodies littering the ground of at least a fifty-feet radius; possibly from people falling or jumping from higher floors that were already completely engulfed in flames and debris.

Nearing the large building, Sora spotted quick movement out of the corner of his eye. Curious, Sora ran after the mysterious figure to find a person who he knew for a fact didn't work here dragging away several weapons and camouflages of wide varieties.

"Hey you! Hold up!" Sora called out, the person stopped dragging the cargo and immediately got into a sort of fighting stance; their dark clothes and hood preventing any identification.

"You're the one who caused all this aren't you?" Sora growled, the figure seemed to pause at the first glance at the brunette but made no move to respond. "You're the reason for the explosions! You're the one who destroyed my home! You're the one who killed my mother!" Sora lunged at the figure in a blind rage, only to be dodged and flipped over and land on his back in one fluid movement.

"Damn it...," Sora groaned, coughing as he sat back up again only to be roughly pulled by to his feet by the collar of his shirt by the figure. "Just who... are you?" He breathed, gritting his teeth.

"Are you Sora Hikari?" The figure asked, ignoring his question once again. Their voice wasn't nearly as deep as the brunette thought it would be, in fact, it actually sounded somewhat feminine.

"And if I am?" He frowned, not liking where this was going.

Suddenly the figure's free hand balled into a fist, pulling back and came back at an alarming speed; punching Sora square in the face.

The force was enough to send him flying several feet, skidding to a stop on his back and gritting his teeth at the sharp pain it caused. He could feel himself drifting in and out of consciousness as the figure then knelt down beside him.

"You're coming with me."

And then everything went black.

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><p><strong>Alright, first chapter done!<strong>

**Sorry if the journal entry thing seemed a bit pointless and stupid, I thought it'd be the only way to talk about Sora's family at all.**

**And I apologize if this chapter also seemed kinda dragged out, turned out longer than I thought it would.**

**Anyway, read and review and I hope to see you again come the next update!**


	2. An UnRadiant Home

**Ok, I am SO sorry it took ,e so long to update this story. I've been super busy lately with projects, presentations and some art projects and crap.**

**But I finally had time today and as soon as I finished the chapter I put it up here.**

**And with that, I hope you enjoy.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

**An Un-Radiant Home**

Sora awoke to a strange variety of things.

For one, there was a sweet smell coming from all around him, it was like... strawberries? He felt a strange sensation as well- as if he were moving, but he wasn't the one moving himself. There was a warmth coming from in front of him too- wait; was he being carried?

The brunette slowly opened his eyes; it was dark outside, meaning it was nighttime. However, all the strange smells and sensations were very real.

"Wha...?" He looked around, only to find a familiar black hood blocking his view of the area. He was being held up piggy-back style by small- but very strong arms, however, one of the hands was preoccupied with something else.

The brunette slowly turned his head to find the hand was pulling a large pile of... something, being covered by a thick cloth.

"So, you're finally awake huh?" A light, feminine voice shook Sora from his thoughts. He looked to find it belonging to-and the girl carrying him- the one who started this whole mess!

Before the brunette could so much as speak, she dropped Sora on the ground- hard.

"Good. You can move by yourself now," The girl sighed as she went back and managed to pick up all the stolen weapons as if she were merely picking up an empty cardboard box. "You were annoying to carry anyway."

Sora slowly got up again, groaning in pain. "Ow... you know it hurts when people drop you!" Sora yelled, his hand balling into a fist.

"Yeah, gravity's a bitch. Just shut up and get moving." The girl said bluntly. Sora followed silently, he blinked realizing this small girl carrying the weapons that put together clearly weighed much more than himself.

"How the hell are you carrying all that? You said I was too heavy but those things are waay heavier than me!" Sora pointed accusingly at the girl who stopped in her tracks. She turned her head enough that the darkness of her hood no longer hid her mouth; she was frowning irritably.

"I said you were annoying to carry, I never said you were too heavy. Look, you can either shut the fuck up and follow me, or I knock you again and drag you the whole way there." She growled. Sora gulped nervously, knowing if he made the wrong move he would surely regret it.

Sora nodded quickly and the girl turned around and the two continued their trek to who-knows-where.

Hours passed, not a word was spoken. Everything that had happened before Sora had been knocked out by this stranger had been slowly coming back to him along the way. The brunette let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and spoke.

"Are my parents really... gone?" He hesitated, his words coming out softly and quickly. The girl sighed.

"Yes, they're both gone. I'm sorry," Her voice almost sounded... sympathetic. Did she actually feel bad for killing both of the brunette's parents all of a sudden? "But still, we have a place to be so we can't stray any longer."

A silent whimper escaped Sora's lips, tears already streaming down his cheeks. The brunette cries seemed to go unnoticed by the girl- which Sora wasn't sure if he should feel grateful for that fact or not.

The girl looked over her shoulder at Sora and turned back before he could notice her stare.

One thing was for sure; it was going to be a long trip.

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><p>Sora hadn't spoken a word for the rest of the entire trip; mostly attempting to calm himself down along the way and wiping any tears left on his cheeks hoping to at least look presentable for wherever their destination was.<p>

The two had passed by a large gate- which the girl had somehow managed to open on her own while still carrying the mass amount of stolen weapons around her dominant arm. The gate was made completely of metallic poles twisting and turning into an intricate design and creaked loudly when opened and shut on its own.

Despite the long trek the two had taken for hours down a dirt road surrounded by nothing but grass and seemingly abandoned farming fields, there was a large city that appeared to be rich and thriving with architecture and products that were normally from completely different cultures and countries.

The city itself looked like one you would see in a Renaissance-based painting or something. Completely made up of buildings of different sizes and designs without a vehicle in sight. Clearly the only transportation you would see would be horses.

Though despite its "old-timey" look- it seemed to be untouched by time. The buildings and streets were completely made of primitively-made bricks, all the buildings had neutral colors- shades of brown and white mostly- and several windows and decorative plants on the window-sills.

Some buildings- probably restaurants or shops- had beautiful, intricate designs painted or carved into the walls and doors, some even had windows painted with what Sora could only assume was the business' logo.

Although the town looked as beautiful as this- everything seemed... empty. All the lights were off- even the street lights- all the doors shut to lock away whatever secrets the buildings may hold.

_Where is everybody? It's not that late._ Sora looked around almost fearfully- afraid some monstrous creature might jump out and attack the travelling duo.

"We're here." The girl pointed out, shaking Sora from his thoughts.

The brunette looked up only to be amazing at their destination. It looked like a gigantic gothic cathedral just situated in the middle of the large, seemingly vacant city.

Sora had to cover his nose with his gloved hand when an incredibly strong scent reached his nostrils. It was so strong it was burning his eyes as well.

"What's that smell?" He asked, his voice slightly different sounding from plugging his nose.

The girl shrugged as she went towards the cathedral's giant, wooden doors. "We plant strong smelling herbs and spices out here to cover up the smell from the vents from the morgue. These ones must still be fresh considering how strong the smell is now." She said plainly.

Sora froze in his tracks and stared at her in disbelief. "Did you say... m-morgue?" He asked shakily.

The girl stared at Sora as if he had said something unnatural. "Yes, the morgue. What, have you never heard of one before?" She said sarcastically, Sora frowned at her tone.

Before Sora could respond, the girl cut him off. "Let's just go in already." She sighed.

A strong gust of wind howled in the air from the inside of the cathedral, slowly pushing the massive doors open as if it were possessed by some sort of spirit. Sora shivered and he followed the girl inside the holy place.

The inside of the cathedral was just as gothic-styled as the outside, swirls and other designs carved into the dark brown walls, the pews facing the front of the altar were such a dark shade of brown they looked almost black. The stories showed in the rose windows were faded almost to the point where it just looked like black and white illustrations in the windows.

Sora made his way to the front of all the pews and sat down on the one closest to him, sighing at the relief his feet were finally getting after so many hours of walking.

"What did we come here for?" He asked, looking around the room once more.

The only light in the building came from two lit candles on either side of the altar. The girl was in front of it in an instant, ignoring Sora's question, she stepped on one of the bricks on the floor with a bit more force than normal.

As soon as she did so a small, paper-thin keypad on the top of a pole of sorts rose from the ground to the same level as her shoulder, having she had finally set down the bundle of weapons.

Sora stared with both confusion and excitement evident on his face as the girl punched in a code on the small keypad. Hitting enter, it sank back into the floor as the entire altar started shaking furiously, slowly and loudly moving backwards against the wall to reveal a dimly lit stairway leading to who-knows-what.

The girl then picked up the bundle once more and turned to Sora, who could see her smirking at his bewildered face.

"Well, what're you waiting for? I think it's high time we finally reach our destination, let's go."

* * *

><p>"Um... What exactly is this place?" Sora asked, staying close to the hooded girl.<p>

As if the dark descending stairway to this place wasn't strange enough- the place residing at the bottom was even stranger.

This sanctuary of sorts- and that's putting it mildly- was the exact opposite of the previous scenery. Outside was dark and gothic, this place... well, it may as well be paradise.

Walls were white and cut into different hallways while seeming to go on forever. Farthest away from the wall was a two-foot high metal barred-fence separating the hard marble floor from a seemingly endless garden. Green grass stretched on and on with several small sidewalks and bridges spread around leading to charming rest areas, perhaps where one could focus on their work; or even take a mid-day nap.

Vibrant flowers of many colors and shapes scattered all over the ground, sometimes in arrangements forming pictures, even occasionally surrounding the many different types of trees.

Some were weeping willows, others just the average seasonal green tree, cherry and plum blossom trees and even fruit bearing trees of all sorts- Sora could even spot a few dumbapple trees in the distance.

"It's your new home." The girl said, finally dropping the heavy bundle on the ground, landing with a thud and shaking Sora out of his amazement and shock.

"Excuse me?" He frowned, but before she could respond she was suddenly glomped and sent to the girl to the ground by a giggling brown blur, sending her hood flying off her head.

Now that her face was visible, Sora could finally see her facial features, for one, she had dark red hair that stopped at her shoulder shaping her heart-shaped face with the bangs going mostly to the right. She also had bright blue eyes, almost like Sora's own eyes, except hers had a slight purple hue.

"Oh my gosh, Kai! You finally came back!" The smiling girl choking Sora's captor, "Kai" apparently, said happily.

This girl looked a bit smaller than "Kai", she had brunette hair that fanned out in a flip at her jaw and had bright green eyes.

Unlike her redhead friend, she wasn't wearing black. Instead she wore a yellow tank top with light brown shorts, brown leather gloves with a black bracelet on her right wrist and she wore black boots that stopped halfway up her calves.

However what really caught Sora's eye were the deadly looking spiked num-chucks around her right leg in a holster.

Just who are these people?

"For the last time Selphie: stop calling me that," Sora's redhead companion growled. "And get off me!" She finally managed to push the peppy brunette off of her.

Selphie scratched her neck in embarrassment. "Okay, Okay, sorry Kairi," She bowed apologetically; at least she had manners. Then her eyes were on Sora. "So who's your new friend? He the one you were supposed to pick up?" She asked.

Kairi nodded, crossing her arms. "Yeah, Sora Hikari. This is him." She sighed, running a hand through her red hair.

Sora just watched as the two girls went on talking like he was some souvenir this "Kairi" had brought home for a friend.

"Excuse me," Sora interrupted loud enough for the two to stop blabbing. "But can someone tell me just what the hell is going on? Because all I know is that this bitch murdered my parents, stole my father's weapons and kidnapped me-" He pointed at Kairi who was now glaring at him. "Then I was dragged miles away from home and brought to this insane place hidden under a damn cathedral without being told anything! Tell me what's going on, now!" Sora yelled, mostly in the direction of Selphie than Kairi.

Before anything could be said by the now startled Selphie, Sora was shoved into the wall by Kairi and pinned down by a kunai knife at his throat.

"Some things you need to know, brat," She breathed dangerously down Sora's neck, he gulped in fear. "First of all, you don't call me a bitch, EVER. Second, you don't yell at Selph either or I will personally cut your throat. Are we clear?" She growled. Sora nodded quickly and carefully.

"C... Crystal." He gasped as Kairi removed the knife from his throat. Sora had his hand around his throat protectively. _If looks could kill..._ He sighed.

"Brat." Kairi muttered under her breath as Selphie hugged her to calm her down.

By the time Sora had regained his composure, Kairi had mysteriously disappeared. Along with the bundle of weapons she carried in.

Selphie came to his side cautiously and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

He nodded slowly and sighed. "Yeah, I uh... I'm sorry for yelling at you. I just wanted some answers." He said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

Selphie shook her head. "It's okay, I understand. Kairi can be a bit difficult sometimes."

Sora chuckled and agreed. "Well, can you help me out? Maybe tell me just what you people are, and what is this place?" He asked, gesturing to the area around them and the old city above.

Selphie nodded and started walking, signaling the brunette to follow and he did so.

"Of course. I have to take you to our leader anyway," She smiled.

"Leader?" Sora asked. "Don't worry, that'll be clear when we get there." Selphie said.

"Anyway, our organization is a group of assassins, ones for the greater good and all that junk- it's hard to explain. And you'll be living here from now on too so you'd better get the hang of things around here soon." She laughed, Sora paused.

"Wait, living here? And where is 'here'?" He asked fearfully. Being taken away from everything and everyone he knew was one thing- but now he'd be living in a strange place he'd never even heard of before?

"This is Radiant Garden of course, or I guess I should say it 'was' Radiant Garden. Couldn't you tell by the architecture outside?" Selphie giggled at Sora's bewildered expression. "What I mean is- welcome to your new home Mr. Sora Hikari."

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><p><strong>It took me weeks to write this chapter, I actually started it right after I uploaded the first one. But I had some major writer's block for so long.<strong>

**And that is also the reason why most of this chapter didn't turn out very well.**

**Well, I hope you review this story and also hopefully it won't take me so long to get the next chapter up.**


	3. Weapon Of Choice

**Chapter 3 has finally arrived!**

**Sorry I'm taking so long with this story, I'm trying to make all the chapters at least the same length as each other and I really want them to be longer than the ones from my other story(Savior From My Lonesome Self) and then with school work and all the stressful things that keep coming up I find it diffiucult to either get typing time or just finding the motivation for it at all.**

**Anyway, enough about me and my troubles, I hope you enjoy this chapter that I've been working on for some time.**

**Read on!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

**Weapon Of Choice**

"D-Did you just say… Radiant Garden?" Sora stuttered, a look of shock still on his features.

"Well of course I did Mr. Hikari, you aren't losing your hearing already are you? Much too young for that." Selphie joked like she said something completely normal. Sora shook his head.

"No I mean, there's no way this could be Radiant Garden! It was destroyed during the war centuries ago accidentally by a misdirected bombing, both the people and the city itself were wiped out. There's no way those buildings or you people could even exist here." Sora had done his research on the war, both for school and more by his father's request.

Selphie just laughed. "And I thought that being the son of a weapons designer and tester meant you would know the real story."

"What… you mean, that was a cover story? A fake?" Sora slowed his walking pace as he went, Selphie slowing as well so as not to lose him.

"Of course, the military wouldn't want anything like what they did getting out or else it'd give them a bad reputation and they'd be ruined." She paused; making sure Sora was still following.

"What exactly did they do?" He asked cautiously, startled when Selphie's expression grew dark.

"I've been told stories by the elders that have been passed down since the incident. It was a massacre, soldiers came in from all sides without warning, just slaughtering any man, woman and child they could find. They burned any kind of evidence there could have been left, the buildings, plants, everything. And then they just left like nothing even happened, being congratulated for a job well done by the higher ups."

An awkward silence stretched on and on, Sora wasn't sure what to say without sounding like he was pitying the poor girl. He cleared his throat nervously.

"Wow, that's… pretty gruesome. I'm sorry for your peoples' loss." He said cautiously.

"It's no matter now, that was a long time ago. We still manage fine." She smiled.

Sora frowned but nodded in understanding anyway. "Maybe so, but if the army wiped you all out centuries ago, then how are those buildings topside still intact without anything broken or rusted? How are your people here today? And so many of you too."

"Some people managed to hide away in the room hidden under the cathedral, after it was all over they came out of hiding and fixed up the buildings best they could. And as for how many of us there are now, well I'm sure you know how the human reproduction system works, starts with-" Sora interrupted the female brunette by covering her mouth with his hand.

"Okay okay I got it now!" He exclaimed, his face red with embarrassment. He pulled his hand away when he was sure Selphie wouldn't go on.

The female brunette laughed as the two continued walking once more. "Okay, I'm sorry. I know you know."

Sora cleared his throat nervously before nodding. He was about to say something before he saw something out of the corner of his eye- a familiar head of blue hair.

"Aqua!" Sora gasped, running blindly over to the startled blue-haired girl and ignoring Selphie's requests to stay where he was. The brunette tackled her in a tight embrace and Aqua yelped in surprise.

"Sora?" She questioned rather calmly, calmer than Sora would've expected. Though at the moment he didn't care, he was too blinded by the fact he finally found someone he knew who wasn't dead.

"Aqua, I'm so glad you're okay! With the house on fire and all the staff dead I thought maybe you were too." Sora paused, finally releasing the girl and taking a deep sigh of relief. "But you're here. You're alive!"

Aqua seemed to fidget uncomfortably at the mention of the fire. "Well I should hope so. You seem well yourself, though that's not very surprising. I knew you'd make it here." She smiled knowingly.

Sora paused for a moment, his previous smile and bliss slowly fading into confusion. "Wait… what do you mean by that? How did you know? And how are you even here?" He switched his gaze from Aqua to Selphie, who was standing next to him now, and back to Aqua again. "… You knew this would happen?"

Aqua sighed heavily and frowned. "Yes, I did know. I've known this was coming for some time now," She gulped. "Your parents knew what was coming, I told them myself the when, where and why."

"So, you…," Sora froze, his mouth opening repeatedly but no words came. "Killed her? My mother…" He breathed.

"I am so, so sorry Sora. But… I had my orders." Aqua attempted to reason, but it didn't seem to be working.

"Orders? They were my family Aqua! And you were like family to us too!" Sora's shouts were beginning to attract attention. He sighed and turned to walk away. "Forget this, let's just keep going Selphie." Selphie nodded and started walking with him.

"I'm sorry Sora but I-"

Sora stopped and shot Aqua a hard look, making her flinch. "I don't want to hear it, Aqua." The brunette walked off before she could speak.

Aqua sighed heavily, covering her eyes with her hand and running it back down to her side. Selphie patted the girl's back in comfort. "It'll be okay Aqua. Mr. Hikari just has a lot going on right now." She said reassuringly.

"Yes, but he has a lot going on because of me. Remember?" Aqua muttered.

Selphie sighed and nodded slowly. "I'll see you later Aqua." She smiled warmly as she walked off.

Aqua nodded to herself, walking to her room for some time alone.

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><p>"I can't believe this. The one person who was left from my life turns out to be with the people who ruined it."<p>

"Um, Mr. Hikari-"

"'I had my orders' she says. Ha! What do orders matter when its friends and family on the line? That little…" Sora growled under his breath, still stomping through the hallway with tears of frustration and betrayal stinging his eyes; clouding his vision.

"Mr. Hikari wait a second-" Selphie was cut off again as she continued to follow by Sora rounding on her with an irritated look in his eyes.

"If you're going to come up with an excuse as to why I should forgive Aqua, so help me I-"

"Um, . We're going in the wrong direction." Selphie smiled nervously, partly fearing Sora might break something- or someone- in his current rage.

Sora's breath hitched, realizing that considering he'd never been here before Selphie was most likely correct. "O-Oh," His face flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry. Um, lead the way."

Selphie nodded and turned to the right direction with Sora following. "And by the way, please stop calling me Mr. Hikari. Just Sora is fine; I don't care much for formalities." He muttered, just loud enough for Selphie to hear.

Selphie giggled slightly. "Okay then, sure. Mr. Hi-" Sora shot her a glare. "I-I mean, Sora." She smiled.

The two brunettes walked in awkward silence for what seemed like hours to Sora. Eventually he got tired of it all and decided to break the silence.

"Selphie, are we almost there?" He sighed. Their destination couldn't be that much farther away, could it?

At first Selphie didn't answer, but soon enough she stopped at the end of the largest hallway Sora had seen so far since he'd arrived here by a tall and wide door that took up almost the entire back wall.

She turned to face Sora, gesturing toward the large and intricately designed door. "Well, Sora, we've finally reached our destination." She smiled.

"Now, I can't go inside with you. But I'll be right back here when you're done to escort you to your room later," She paused, stepping out of the way of the doorway. "Good luck, Sora." She finished, walking away to attend to whatever other duties she had been assigned to.

Sora stared at the giant doors as if a hand was going to sprout from them and punch him in the face. He grabbed onto the large, worn metal handles loosely.

The brunette gulped nervously, his hands shaking slightly.

What awaits him behind these doors? These are the people who had issued the orders to kill his parents after all, what would happen? Are they really monsters hiding underneath a human mask? Some sort of murderous, heartless demon out to destroy all mankind? Would they kill him too?

Although they had ordered that girl, Kairi, to take him here alive. What could that mean?

Sora shook himself of his paranoia and gripped the handles more firmly, dispelling any fear in his features as he started to pull open the heavy doors.

The room ahead seemed even whiter than the hallways Sora had seen on his way here. A bright light enveloped him the wider he opened the doors, blinding the brunette temporarily.

Bringing up a gloved hand over his face, he searched in the whiteness for a face; to no avail. "Hello? My name is Sora Hikari. Is anyone here?" He called out, almost hoping he wouldn't get a reply and he could leave.

Unfortunately he wasn't so lucky.

A bored sigh echoed in the light. "Xigbar, would you turn out the lights already? This room is bright enough as it is. Any brighter and the poor boy will need a seeing-eye dog."

"Heh, right. Sorry about that." Another voice chuckled, this one sounded a bit more aged. Suddenly the brightness was gone in a second. Sora blinked the spots away repeatedly as he got used to the change and saw several dark blobs coming into focus.

Even without the bright lights from before, the room itself was still blindingly white- to a level anyway.

The room was relatively circle-shaped, and the ceiling was probably several yards up. In the middle of the floor was a large, black X, just like the ones on the pockets Aqua had given Sora. Surrounding the X were twelve tall, white chairs, all different heights all still unreachable without a ladder.

While most of the chairs were empty, five of them were occupied by rather strange looking people in black cloaks.

"Hey kid, sorry about nearly blinding you and such." One of them chuckled, smirking down at the brunette. Sora recognized his voice as the one previously mentioned as "Xigbar". He looked older than the others; the wrinkles around his eyes were proof of that. There was even a large scar starting from his jaw line and reaching up toward his left eye. He had long black hair with white streaks strung back into a long ponytail. He also had an eye patch over his right eye, covering the strange yellow iris accompanied by the left.

"That's okay." Sora replied cautiously. Casting a weary glance on the strange man before looking to the others.

In the lowest of the chairs was a slim, blonde-haired girl that was slicked back and seemed to branch out on her head into two antennae. Her eyes were a fierce blue- like lightning- and she seemed like the type that was always ready for a ferocious battle and could give little kids or even adults nightmares. She was twirling a strange-looking kunai knife around her finger.

Not too far away from the scary girl was a slightly built and rather… feminine-looking man. His hair was long and pink, shaping his face and fanning out in spiked layers, it looked almost as if it were made of roses. His eyes were a light shade of green- perhaps sea foam.

On one of the higher chairs a man with an unmistakable X-shaped scar on his face, one would guess he was the one in charge- considering the X seemed to be the symbol for this crazy organization- but something about him seemed more like he was an assistant of some kind. He had bright blue hair that came down in longs locks in front of his ears and spiked back on top of his head, coming down to the middle of his back. His eyes were almost like that of a cat's- a topaz color.

And there was one last black clad figure in the room- sitting in the highest chair in the center, just across from Sora.

Judging from his seat, this guy must be the leader. He had dark, tanned skin with silver hair to contrast. His hair protruded all around his head in one direction as well as his silver bangs covering certain spots, the rest running down his back and stopping midway. His eyes were unnaturally orange- almost like a rotting pumpkin- that seemed to stare right into your soul and rattle you worse than a maraca.

"So you are Sora Hikari?" The silver-haired man asked, his voice very deep and commanding.

Sora took a shaky breath and gulped nervously; this man was rather intimidating whether he knew it or not. And he probably did. "I am." He answered. The man smirked.

"So you were Vanitas' successor? Somehow I expected you not to be so scrawny and a bit more… well, more." He chuckled darkly, either not noticing or just not caring about the dark glare Sora was firing at the man.

"Though I suppose a weakling like Vanitas wouldn't be able to bring up a son that was more of a man than he was. What a shame."

_SNAP!_

"Don't you ever talk about my father that way!" Sora shouted, taking a large step toward the smirking villain.

The man chuckled once again. "And just what are you going to do? Throw a pillow at me?"

Sora's eyes cast downward, his bangs covering his eyes. "My parents," he began shakily. "You ordered them to be murdered. Why?"

The man stared at the brunette, amusement glinting in his eyes. "Certainly you must know. They had strayed from the correct path, 'hung with the wrong crowd', as you say. Your parents were feeble and weak. They had it coming."

That was it. That was the last straw. _Nobody_ insulted Sora Hikari _or_ his family. For if they did, they would certainly pay for it.

There was a burning rage welling up inside of Sora; one unlike any other had ever felt. It was like a hand completely enveloped in flame was grasping his heart- searching for something. Sora's vision suddenly became useless by a blinding white light created mentally through his own rage- a figment.

Or was it?

Sora felt something appear in his right hand, shocked gasps echoing off the walls. The object felt somewhat like a hilt, though at the moment the brunette only had eyes for the man insulting his family right in front of him.

Sora took a large stomp forward. "You bastard!" He shouted, breaking out into a charge at the silver-haired villain.

Then Sora was stopped short, letting out a small cry of pain as he felt something sharp puncture the skin of his right arm, another sharp object against his throat. They were the daggers belonging to the blonde antennae-haired girl; who was now holding him in place with both her knives and her glare.

"Unless you want to lose your head, I suggest you back down and cool that spiky head of yours, brat." She hissed, Sora gulped nervously and glared at the woman; still refusing to back off even a little.

"That's enough Larxene. As much as I dislike frontal assaults on my behalf, we need this one alive," The silver-haired man smirked, licking his lips like he were looking at his next meal. "Besides, things have gotten a lot more… interesting."

The girl known as Larxene finally backed away from Sora, huffing in annoyance and pulling her knives with her, Sora gritting his teeth when she pulled the one out of his arm. A trickle of blood ran quickly down his arm.

He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "And what does that mean?" He said, frowning. The man pointed to the object that was still in Sora's right hand; he had almost forgotten it was there.

Looking down at it, it was a rather strange thing. It looked like a giant silver key, the hilt in the middle of what seemed to be a yellow guard, on the end there was a keychain that looked somewhat like a mouse head.

"What the…?" Sora was at a loss for words; he had no idea what this thing was. Or how it got there.

"What is this thing?" He breathed.

"That 'thing', dear boy, is what's called a Keyblade." The silver-haired man answered.

"A Keyblade…?" Sora held the weapon up in front of him; it gleamed in the artificial light from above. He frowned. "But what is a Keyblade? Why do I have one and how did I get it? Just who are you?"

The man sighed. "A Keyblade is a weapon of light. And you my boy have one because you are a Keybearer. A Keyblade is your weapon of choice," He smirked before he continued. "And who am I you ask? To sum it up for you, my name is Xemnas. And I believe we are going to become very, very good friends."

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><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review so I can improve for later chapters and stories as well.<strong>

**I look forward to your next visit.**


	4. Occupations And Stories

**Ok people, I'm so sorry I keep updating so late. But now that I finally finished my finals yesterday I'll have much more time to write more and faster at a time and even update quicker.**

**This chapter turned out a lot longer than the others, I had been trying to keep it consistent but I guess not this time.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

**Occupations And Stories**

"'Good friends'?" Sora spat, the words to him were like poison on his tongue. "All this and you think we'll be 'good friends'? You'll be lucky to even be considered an acquaintance if you don't give me some real answers!"

The man known as Xemnas' eyebrows shot up in amusement. "Answers? Very well, what do you want to know?"

Sora raised a brow. "You promise the truth? No riddles or lies?" He asked cautiously, suddenly the Kayblade that was in his hand vanished and gasped, eyes widened. Xemnas smirked.

"Cross my heart and hope to die." He said cockily, making and X-shaped gesture with his hand over his chest where his heart would be. Sora regained his composure and shot a quick glare at the man.

"Alright, fine," Sora folded his arms, careful of the still bleeding gash Larxene left. "First, what were my parents doing that could possibly warrant orders to kill them?" Sora meant to sound angry and determined, but instead his voice came out shaky and like a panicked scream.

Xemnas sighed. "Someone requested- or rather demanded- Vanitas to make a new weapon. One unlike any the world has ever seen."

"What do you mean? What does it do?" Sora asked. Xemnas' face grew grave.

"One capable of wiping out an entire country in one night."

Silence spread throughout the room like someone hit the mute button on every person there. Sora's jaw dropped; his eyes widened in shock and his legs suddenly went limp and he slid to floor. This couldn't be right, his father would never even think of making something like that for someone.

"... And my mother? Why did she have to die too?" Sora's voice cracked, his question nearly inaudible.

"Aerith was also ordered to assist with the weapon, only she was made to create a cloaking device so we would never be able to find it. Unfortunately, your father finished the weapon. Although your mother never completed the cloaking device." Xemnas said, he looked off distantly as if expecting the walls to change color or something.

"Then you've destroyed the weapon! You found it in my father's company didn't you? It's already gone up in smoke with the rest of the building and everyone in it anyway." Sora frowned, making a waving hand gesture as if showing everything in the now leveled building that he saw hours before.

"When our men arrived at the scene the weapon and unfinished cloaking device were both gone. We know who has taken it and maybe even where he is at the moment." Though despite what he says, Xemnas looks doubtful.

"Then go kill him instead! If you know so much then go after him! My parents were innocent in all this! They had no idea all this would happen-"

"Oh but Sora, they did. They knew exactly what they were doing, they gave in to threats and did exactly what they were told. When the order to kill them was issued, that maid you call a friend begged us to hold off for as long as we could so they could still be around for your last birthday they could spend with you. They knew what would happen, and what would become of them," Xemnas leaned back in his chair, looking smug. "You should think twice before shutting your only friend away Sora, think of what they had to go through themselves."

Sora stared down at the ground in shock. "They knew... And Aqua... tried to protect me?" he muttered to himself. He looked up at Xemnas. "But, when all is said and done, why didn't you kill me too? Why haven't you gone after the real monster behind this?"

"Well that's where you come in. You see, we're only able to track his whereabouts to narrow it down to within a hundred-mile radius of where he might be. Other than that he is basically untouchable, taunting us with other people he's dragged down with him and some petty crimes that he committed just to prove we couldn't find him." Xemnas' hands gripped the arms of his seat tightly, a light cracking noise echoed throughout the room from the chair creaking in protest.

"And this all has to do with me because...?"

"Because with the right skills- meaning the Keyblade- you can track him down to the very last foot of distance between you." Xemnas grinned evilly, releasing his grip on his now damaged chair.

"And how do I do that?" Sora asked, all this Keyblade really seemed like was a giant house key to beat up sorry old muggers on the street. What else could it possibly do?

"The Keyblade is a weapon of light- from the heart. Meaning that with enough practice, you could track someone down with those senses. No one's heart is exactly the same, in a way we're like snowflakes- similar at first glance, but completely different when you get closer- all hearts have different auras if you will. The Keyblade can sense those differences and pick out the right person in an instant." Xemnas finished, leaning his cheek on his right palm.

Sora thought for a moment. "The man who threatened my parents to make the weapon, what's his name?" He asked, looking back up at Xemnas.

"Sephiroth."

Sora stumbled slightly. "S-Sephiroth? As in Sephiroth Crighton? He's one of the most powerful men in the world!"

Xemnas nodded gravely. "And that's exactly why he is so hard to track down. He's everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He only lets people find him when it benefits him in some way, other than that- he's invisible."

"Then how am I supposed to track him down when no one else has ever been able to? Surely my Keyblade's tracking signals can't stretch over countries or anything wider than a town." Sora pointed out.

"While that may be true, but he may not be so hard to track now. Coming out to your father to make the weapon himself was the first step, normally he sends one of his men to do the threatening for him. And then last night when we went to retrieve the unfinished product before him and it was already gone as well. One of our scouts picked up this daily paper and had it transferred here. Look."

Xemnas threw a newspaper down on the floor in front of Sora, the front page had the headlines "TYCOON SPOTTED IN TWILIGHT TOWN" with a picture of a man that could be no older than Sora's father was. Only this man had incredibly long silver hair that flowed down even past his hips, long silvery bangs parted down the middle on either side of his face, making his bright green eyes seem to shimmer even brighter. He only seemed intimidating until you saw the sinister grin spreading across his face that seemed to nearly spilt his cheeks in half which only confirmed any suspicions- there was no doubt in Sora's mind that this man was one of those take-over-the-world-or-destroy-it types.

Xemnas continued. "He's getting bold. Which means he's getting closer to whatever he's hoping to accomplish."

Sora gulped, staring at the picture with horror and anger. Horror for whatever this monster plans to do with this weapon. Anger toward him for being responsible for his parents' being targets in an assassination with a job well done to those involved in it.

"So Sora, will you join us?" Xemnas stared at the brunette in expectation.

Sora looked down to his opened palms as if expecting all the answers to magically appear on top of the gloves his mother had given him. On one end- if he stayed here, he could train in the uses of the Keyblade and avenge his parents' deaths. But on the other- he'd have to do whatever these people ordered him to, and become a killer in their stead.

Sora looked up at Xemnas, a look of determination burning brightly in his eyes.

"I'll do it. I'll join you, but don't think it's because I want to be friends with you killers. I'm only in it to avenge my parents."

Xemnas grinned almost evilly. "A wise choice Sora. Now, it won't be easy, you'll have to go through quite a bit of training, plus you'll have to follow orders, complete any and all assignments we give you, and of course, you'll be issued a partner."

"Partner?" The word sounded nearly foreign as it rolled off Sora's tongue. After realizing he'd been lied to for so long by his own family and Aqua, he didn't think he'd again have to trust someone with his life so soon already.

The sound of the large doors behind the brunette opening snapped him out of his thoughts, seeing it was that girl Kairi that had brought him here in the first place. She walked past Sora as if he weren't even there.

"You called me, sir?" Her monotone echoed off the walls.

"Yes Kairi, you remember Sora Hikari, yes?" Xemnas gestured toward the brunette and Sora and Kairi shot each other a glare. "Good, now you two are from this day forth, partners."

"What?" The two teens exclaimed simultaneously. Xemnas' smirk somehow grew wider.

"There's no way you can partner me up with a weakling like him!" Kairi exclaimed, earning another glare from Sora.

"Watch it ginger! I'm no weakling!" He growled, yanking at Kairi's arm rather violently. She whirled on him and threw her arm back for a powerful punch to the face.

But before her fist could make contact, Xemnas interrupted. "You need a new partner Kairi. Remember what happened to your last one?"

Kairi froze in place, her once furiously red face had visibly paled to one of fear or possibly shock.

The redhead wordlessly backed away from Sora- who cautiously stood normally again- and stood to face Xemnas with her head downcast.

"Do you understand, Kairi?" Xemnas' eyes seemed to see right through Kairi down to her very soul. The look in his eyes made a chill go down Sora's spine.

"Yes sir." Kairi muttered, though somehow Xemnas still managed to hear her.

"Good. Now Sora, training begins first thing tomorrow morning," Sora nodded wordlessly. "Kairi will escort you to the infirmary for that cut and then to your quarters. You are both dismissed."

The two teens turned and shut the doors behind them as they left. Kairi started walking in some random direction, assuming she was leading Sora to the infirmary, he followed after her. He clutched the injury on his arm every now and then when he felt a sharp pain.

Sora picked up his pace up a bit to be next to Kairi as she strode silently. "Um, Kairi...," She glanced at him to show she was listening. "I'm sorry about before, the insult earlier and yelling at Selphie I mean."

Kairi shook her head and stopped walking. "We were both angry before. If we don't want to get in trouble with Xemnas we have to cooperate. It's that simple. And Selph said she was fine with it."

"Where is she anyway? She said she'd be by the door but I didn't see her." Sora was glad that for once there wasn't an unbearable silence or death glares and insults between he and Kairi. Despite what she had done, she seems like a good person outside the killer part.

"I found her on the way there and told her I'd handle you for her. She went back to her room already," Kairi stated, continuing before Sora could respond. "We're here."

Sora looked around the hallway they were in and at the door before him. At this rate what with this underground mass of hallways like a maze he'd have to find himself a map or something.

The door looked fairly simple compared to the other more intricately decorated doors Sora had seen so far, it seemed to be a manually operated sliding door with a small square window at eye level with a small rectangular depression where a door knob would be to get a grip on the door to slide it aside. Like everything else in this utopia- it was painted a layer of eggshell white over the wood that made up the door itself with a plague on the wall next to it that said "INFIRMARY" carved into it.

Kairi slid open the door for Sora and gestured for him to go inside. Sora raised a brow in slight confusion.

"Why are you suddenly so reversely chivalrous to me? And aren't you coming?" He asked with a frown.

Kairi shook her head. "Well sorry I'm not in the mood to be a dick to you at the moment. And I'm just going to wait outside, doctor's offices make my head spin," She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall with one leg crossed over the other. "Don't get your boxers in a bunch, Spiky. I'll be right outside when you come back."

Sora muttered some curse words under his breath at his new nickname and nodded and walked inside; shutting the door behind him.

The room itself looked like your standard infirmary; couple small rooms along a yet another hallway, in the main room there were maybe 3 standard hospital beds with curtains dividing them, other than a blue desk in the middle of the wall directly across from the door, everything was either white or cream colored or even such a light yellow it nearly looked white from a distance.

The walls were littered with various medicine cabinets and different anatomy pictures. The paint on the walls seemed freshly applied; they must repaint the walls in this place fairly often.

Sora looked around; the place seemed pretty much empty. "Hello? Is anyone here?" He called out.

"Who's there?" A feminine voice replied. A head of black hair popped out from one of the rooms in the hallway.

The girl before him- who was most likely the doctor or nurse here- seemed to be an adult. She had long flowing black hair that halted midway down her back, she also had lightish brown highlights on either side of her bangs that shaped her face. She had dark brown- or possibly even black- eyes and she had a kind smile as well.

She wore a V-shaped tank top- or rather half shirt- that stopped into a buttoned blue shirt. She also wore black shorts with a thin white line going down the front of each leg and also had small black boots. Over her shirt was what seemed to be almost like a sleeveless blue sweater- judging by the fabric- that was buttoned once over her chest and flowed down to her ankles. Over it all she had the standard white coat that doctors always wear.

"Are you a patient? I've never see you around before." She smiled at Sora who turned slightly and her smile vanished at the sight of the gash on Sora's arm. "Oh my."

The woman had Sora sitting on a cot in seconds and was already disinfecting the wound. "What in the world happened here?" She asked, though it seemed mostly like she was talking to herself.

Sora cleared his throat uncertainly. "Right, I was with your leader and this girl named Larxene came at me when I got angry and, well... you know the rest. I'm new here, my name's Sora. Sora Hikari."

The woman paused and looked up at him with a troubled frown. "I see, so you're Vanitas' son. My name is Rinoa Heartilly. It's nice to meet you." She smiled warmly at the brunette once again.

"It's nice to meet you too... You knew my father?" Sora asked, wincing every time Rinoa went to sew in more parts of the stitches she was now applying to the injury.

"And your mother as well. They both used to work with us actually."

Sora's breath hitched and it felt as if he had been slapped in the face. "Were... Were they killers too? Like the other people here?"

Rinoa shook her head, pausing n her stitching so as not to make a mistake. "No, your mother worked here with me in the medical wing. However your father was famous around here, he was one of Xemnas' favorite little pawns," She chuckled to herself and returned to stitching Sora's arm. "Your parents left us after they got married and your mother became pregnant with you. Naturally we had to lose all contact when they did." She finished and cut the thread. "All finished."

Sora examined the cleaned and stitched wound on his arm and flinched at the sight of it, stitches always disturbed him because it made him feel like those scary ragdoll things or Frankenstein from old horror movies or something.

"Thanks," He said absent mindedly. Rinoa cocked her head at him. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Sora shook his head. "I guess, but, I mean, was there anything my parents _didn't_ hide from me?" He sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his chocolate locks. Rinoa lay a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Your parents only did that to protect you. They knew that if they told you about their past lives here then it would be putting you in danger." She said reassuringly.

"I guess that makes sense," Sora looked over at Rinoa for a moment. From a distance she merely looked like a kind and caring doctor, but up close she was not only that but strikingly beautiful. If she were maybe a few years younger he might've even asked her out on the spot; but that'd be weird anyhow.

Rinoa stood up, offering her hand to the brunette who took it gratefully and stood as well.

Sora looked down and shuffled his feet. "Guess I should get going. Kairi's probably getting impatient." He sighed.

Rinoa raised a brow. "Kairi? Is she the one who brought you here as well?" Sora nodded. "She's also the one who killed my father so... Great way to make new friends, huh? Xemnas even made us partners." He muttered. Rinoa frowned.

"It'll be alright, Sora. Don't forget she was only doing her job, your family fell into a bad crowd and didn't fight back, something was bound to happen sooner or later." Rinoa's attempt at reason seemed both understandable and irrelevant at the same time.

"Right." Sora sighed. he turned toward the door and Rinoa lay her hand on his shoulder again.

"Anytime you want to talk about anything, just stop by, okay? I'll always be here. And if you ever want to learn more about your parents, just ask."

Sora stared at the doctor for a moment. A smile finally spread across his face. "Thanks, Rinoa. I'll be sure to come back again, hopefully not just for more bandaging."

Rinoa giggled slightly. "Right. And come back to get the stitches removed later on as well. Bye Sora."

Sora waved and finally opened the door to find Kairi still waiting there for him like she'd said she would. It was actually a bit surprising. He slid the door shut and the redhead looked up at him.

"Done?" Sora nodded. Kairi stood from her position on the wall. "Good. It's this way to your room. Come on." She started walking with Sora tailing behind her.

As they walked Kairi looked over her shoulder at Sora who just seemed to be absentmindedly following her while being too deep in thought to notice which way they were going. Kairi sighed.

"Hey," Sora jolted in surprise for a moment and looked at the redhead. "If you want to know how to get to your room in the future- pay attention. What's eating you now?" Kairi finished as she planted one hand on her hip impatiently.

Sora opened his mouth as if to say something, but no sound came out. He looked around the hallway and scratched his head nervously and Kairi sighed again.

"Fine. If you don't want to say anything than I'll gladly leave it at that." Kairi turned to start walking again.

"What happened to your old partner?"

The redhead froze in her tracks, eyes widened. She didn't even bother to look at Sora's curious face.

"Why do you want to know?" She asked softly, hoping it'd keep him from realizing her voice was shaky. It worked.

"Well Xemnas said something back there about your old partner and I was curious. Did they quit too like my parents, did they switch to get another partner or something?" Sora asked innocently. He noticed Kairi seemed frozen and he frowned. "Kairi, are you okay?" He went to lay a hand on her should but she flinched away; her stone faced expression returned before the brunette could even notice.

"My past partners don't concern you," She started walking again and Sora followed- afraid to press on the matter. "We're almost to your room now."

A few minutes passed before Kairi pointed at a black door with a small nameplate above the doorknob. The writing was in fancy black lettering and read out as _Kairi._

"This one is my room, and yours," Kairi dragged out as they kept walking and about six doors farther down she stopped at another black door. "Is right here. Here's your name plate, it sticks automatically. Get some rest for tomorrow, when you wake up later Selphie will show you around some more and you'll be escorted back here where you'll be gathered by me tomorrow for training." She finished, handing Sora the small name plate with his name engraved on it also in the same black writing.

The brunette bent over and stuck the small plate above his doorknob like Kairi's was and stood up. "Okay then, thanks Kairi-" He stopped as he turned to see said redhead had already retreated to her own room. Sora heard her door shut and he sighed.

"Right. Goodnight." He muttered to himself, opening the door to his room and shutting it behind him.

The room was simple, yet, in a way, classy. The walls were painted a light beige, in the far back corner there was full-sized bed with sleek cobalt sheets and white pillows and a black frame. Naturally since the place was underground there were no windows. Against the wall across from the bed was a modern glass desk- although knowing these people, it was probably bulletproof glass for all Sora knew- with a black office chair in front of it. There was even a small laptop with a cordless mouse on the desk. Next to the bed was also a small black nightstand with a little lamp on top while there also another lamp on the desk as well, there was also a tall black dresser in the corner opposite of the bed.

There was also a small hallway next to the door that seemed to lead to a small bathroom with a blue walls and even a shower inside. Across from that was what looked like a closet.

Sora walked farther inside and took off his shoes to find the carpeting beneath him to be freshly new, it was still soft and unstained. There was a change of clothes lying on his bed as well- finding it to be a white T-shirt and navy blue sweat pants. Sora quickly changed while still being careful of the clothes his mother and Aqua had given him as well and folded them and set them aside in the dresser.

Sora was exhausted; today has certainly been the most memorable 18th birthday most- if not all- people never get to say they even came close to experiencing, but he still couldn't bring himself to get under the comfortable-looking covers of his new bed so he sat in the office chair instead.

A small white box on the desk caught Sora's attention; whatever was inside was wrapped in thick white wrapping paper with a rough string tying it all together. The brunette reached for the package and untied the string to unleash whatever surprise awaited him. Sora's breath hitched.

It was the journal his father had left for him as a birthday present. Small areas around it were singed from when his home had been burned to the ground. _How did this even get here..._

Aqua. That had to be it. Sora sighed, now he really had to apologize to the blue-haired ex-maid.

The brunette flipped through the pages to make sure it wasn't too badly damaged; luckily the burns weren't too serious so it was still usable. Even the words Sora's father had written before were still legible- much to the brunette's relief.

A few minutes passed as Sora had started a new entry about what else had happened since his last one yesterday morning.

_July 18, 2012_

_Hello again, so a lot of things have happened in just a mere 24 hours. It's ridiculous, tragic, scary, bewildering- basically whatever you want it to be. In just one day, everything's changed. My parents and home are both gone. And now I have to work with the very people who basically made it happen! Mom, Dad, I'm going to miss you. I wish you were both still here and I wasn't in this mess to begin with. Apparently I have something these people want, I'm what they call a Keybearer; meaning I get to wave around a giant key all day long and do who-knows-what._

_If only I could've helped my parents; maybe have even kept this all from happening. If only I could've at least gotten to spend some quality time with them before they passed...Some 18th birthday this turned out to be._

_I'm going to miss you both. I'll get back at the monster who caused this. I hope- no- I _know_ I'm doing the right thing. I have to be._

Sora sighed heavily and finally set down his pencil and yawned. He stood to go to bed when something caught his eye- there was something else hidden in that discarded wrapping paper.

The brunette picked the object up carefully, whatever it was also wrapped up as well; except this was wrapped in red paper and was much smaller than the journal. Sora unwrapped part of it to find that it had been layered at least three times in the paper. "Ugh, Seriously? It's like these people are trying to piss me off." Sora sighed, finding a small card hidden under the second layer of paper.

_To: Sora Hikari_

_From: Kairi_

_Happy birthday brat._

Sora raised a brow at this and simply threw his head back in laughter. Not only had the girl that seemed to always want to rip his head off give him a present; but she didn't even write her own last name and left a birthday message that suited her perfectly.

Sora's laughs died down when he realized that people were probably still sleeping around him right now. He set the card on the table and finally unwrapped the last layer of paper and his eyes widened at what was inside.

A silver crown necklace gleamed in the dim light coming from the desk lamp. The crown itself was as smooth as a newly crafted sword. The chain was just as shiny as the crown as well. Sora's growing smile shone in the crown charm perfectly.

Sora carefully set the necklace on the nightstand next to his bed and sighed somewhat happily. He turned off his lamp and climbed into bed and under his surprisingly comfy covers, letting the soft fabrics envelop him and slowly sleep started to consume him as his eyelids grew heavy.

"Thank you, Kairi."

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><p><strong>And there you have it.<strong>

**I hope you enjoyed and I thank you for being so patient with me.**

**Please review and I hope I'll see you again come the next chapter.**


	5. Wake up Call

**Good god, I'm sorry people that I'm taking so long with these chapters, so far it looks like a chapter a month or something..nooo...**

**I'm trying to write these things faster but I get distracted with my poems, art projects, family and gaming.**

**Although since I've been gone, I had my 18th birthday, graduated from high school, had to be the photographer for my dad's wedding since they hated the professional one(lol), went to another friend's 18th birthday party, found Persona 3 and 4(so freaking psyched to play them all the way through!) and some other games, AND I finally got my driver's permit so i'll be working on getting my license too!**

**Anyway, sorry I keep babbling, please enjoy this chapter.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

**Wake Up Call**

Sora's eyes were assaulted by a blinding orange-ish light immediately. The brunette shielded his eyes with his hand until he was able to focus again and the light didn't seem as intense.

Shaking his head to free himself of the blindness, Sora looked around to find himself at the edge of the market of none other than Twilight Town. Sora raised a brow in confusion.

_How did I get back here? This can't be ri-_

"Whoa..." Sora breathed.

The town further in the distance seemed to distort and fade into a large swirl the farther away it was, the buildings seeming to shrink into the strange anomaly the closer they got to it.

Even Sora's current surroundings seemed to wave and blur into something grotesque before repeatedly unraveling and turning back to the way it was over and over again. Sora frowned.

_What in the world is going on...?_

Suddenly Sora spotted two blurred figures approaching him from the distorted distance; they seemed to be running but were still going in slow motion.

"Sora!" One of them called. The voice sounded masculine but caring and... strangely familiar.

"Sora, honey!" The other voice was feminine and soft, even as a shout like that. Sora's eyes widened.

"Mom..? Dad?" The two figures started getting closer and closer, their forms starting to become clearer in the strange orange fog and out of the distortion.

Sora took a step forward but was stopped abruptly by a hand slamming down on his shoulder and gripping it fearfully strongly. The brunette flinched and turned his head slowly to see who wanted his attention so badly; his breath hitched at the sight.

Whatever had grabbed his shoulder- this _thing_- wasn't normal; it wasn't human.

It's hair was the same color as his mother's and was unkempt and damaged as badly as hair could get; but as soon as it was noticed it all just burned away down to the scalp of the creature and to the ground in ashes.

The creature itself was grotesque- its flesh decomposing at an alarming rate, empty eye sockets that seemed like empty voids into pitch black darkness. It just seemed like a skeleton with a thin and burned layer of skin just barely hanging on to the brittle bones. Its filthy fingers were long and rough and clung onto Sora's shirt like Velcro. The thing didn't even have a nose- just a mass of bone.

"Why didn't you save us honey? Why didn't you save your poor mother and father?" The thing's face cracked loudly as it grinned evilly.

Sora attempted to scream in hopes of scaring the creature away somehow- but no sound came out anymore, only his sharp gasps and small whimpers and yelps were audible. He quickly tore the hand off his shoulder and as soon as he did the bones in the creature's arm snapped in two with a sickening cracking sound. The creature screamed in pain but managed to stand its ground as the broken off part of its arm disintegrated into nothing.

Sora fell back onto the ground in shock. The thing began to inch closer and closer to him even as he scooted farther away from it every time it did; his eyes still wide with fear and seemingly unable to close. The creature continuously repeating things like "Why didn't you save us?", "Why are you so weak and useless?" and "It's all your fault."

Sora felt his limbs finally protest at all movement and he was frozen right where he was. The brunette tried to shake himself free of his invisible restraints but to no avail.

"Come on, Sora. Stop fighting it; just stay still and it will all be over soon." The thing spoke so calmly and grinned at him sickeningly again as he looked up to find that its arm had grown back into a long jagged blade completely made up of bone and muscle- the muscle already decomposing as the arm was raised to strike the brunette down.

Sora continued his inner conflict with his own limbs and finally regained some control in his right arm.

"No!" He shouted. A flash of light came and went and he swung his arm out at the beast and he heard it shriek in pain once more. Looking up to find a huge, burning gash in its body as it lay on the ground; he had managed to summon the keyblade again.

"D-Damn you..." The creature choked out, coughing up clouds of black smoke since there was nothing in its non-existent stomach. "You brat, you'll pay for this in the waking life. You'll get what's coming to you." It gasped dryly before disintegrating into a pile of ashes and being blown away in the wind.

Sora stood once it was gone- dismissing his keyblade afterward. The area seemed to distort even more and Sora was getting sucked into the ever-growing swirl in the distance.

He yelled helplessly and reached out his arms in hopes of grabbing onto something to hold himself back but with no success. The swirl turned darker and became a void as empty and dark as the creature's eyes as the ground started shaking violently.

_"Sora? Sora, wake up!"_

The void and town disappeared in an instant as Sora finally awoke with a jolt in a cold sweat. He was gasping for breath as though he had been underwater holding his breath when he spotted a pair of green irises staring down at him.

Sora managed to steady his breathing after a moment before he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes to find the green orbs belonged to none other than Selphie. She had a frown plastered on her face and she looked concerned. She was also holding a tray over her forearms that had a cloth over whatever was underneath.

"Are you alright, Sora? You don't look so good."

Sora slowly sat upright and sighed heavily. "Yeah, just a nightmare... Thanks for waking me up."

Selphie sat on the edge of his bed and set the tray aside. "Want to talk about it?" Sora shook his head and looked away from her toward the wall. "I'm sorry. Let's just drop the subject, okay?" Selphie chuckled nervously and set the tray she had been holding on Sora's lap.

The brunette looked to her in confusion. "What's this?" He asked; he removed the cloth draped over the tray to find several covered containers and a small glass of juice that had a bluish hue to it.

Selphie smiled. "It's dinner, but technically for you I guess it'd be breakfast I suppose. You were still asleep when the mess hall was getting close to closing so I grabbed some things beforehand and warmed it up on my way here for you. It wouldn't exactly be healthy for you to go so long without getting any food in you or anything, you know?"

Sora nodded numbly; Selphie was right, after all. With everything that's happened in a mere twenty four hours- he had completely forgotten about the average human's need for nourishment. Other than sleep of course. But considering how tired Sora still felt; it didn't seem like an easy task.

"That's a very pretty necklace," Sora froze and noticed Selphie's green irises were directed to the necklace Kairi had given him on the nightstand. "Where did it come from? You didn't have it before."

Sora laughed nervously. "O-Oh right, that? That's uh… it's a gift," Selphie's eyes seemed to delve deep into his soul and he flinched. "It was here when I got inside, alright? Though surprisingly, Kairi's name was on the card." He muttered. Selphie grinned.

"Interesting."

"Um, so I still have time before when Xemnas said I had to start training, right?" Sora asked to change the subject; he had already began to undo the clasps on the lids to the containers to see whatever Selphie had brought for him while setting the glass of juice on his nightstand just to be careful.

"Oh yeah, don't worry. It's only around ten right now. You have enough time to eat, get more sleep and get ready afterwards. Besides, I have to come back here later to take you to the sparring hall anyway," Selphie stood from the bed and opened the door. "And to do so I have to get some sleep myself. When you're done eating you can just set everything on the desk over there. See you in the morning, Sora." She smiled as she shut the door, leaving Sora to eat in peace.

The brunette began by undoing the clasp over the beverage and sniffed the sweet aroma emanating from the liquid. It didn't smell strange at all so he pressed his parted lips to the rim and tipped the glass his way and took a sip; the taste was of a familiar fruit and Sora smiled.

_Of course it'd be dumbapple juice…_ Sora thought, the juice seemed to produce a sense of nostalgia inside him even though he'd had one himself just a day ago.

Downing another gulp and setting the glass aside, Sora undid the clasps on the rest of the dishes on the tray.

The biggest was a large bowl filled with a beef stew of sorts, the thick and brown broth devouring chunks of vegetables and meat. Another covered plate held slices of bread- they were somehow still warm and soft. The last dish was a small bowl of soup- it stunk of peas- that was to the brunette's liking as well.

After not eating for so long, Sora felt somewhat sick just looking at the food and almost reconsidered eating at all- though his stomach growled loudly in protest. He supposed after going so long without anything might've altered his usual eating habits.

Sora's suspicions were confirmed when he was only able to eat about a third of each dish without feeling ill. Though at the moment he didn't care and just felt the need to fill himself as much as he could.

Though he immediately regretted doing so when after eating just a bit more began the acidic bile rising up his throat at a rapid pace and sent him rushing to the bathroom.

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><p>"Hah… Hah… Damn food." Sora panted, still leaning his head toward the porcelain seat that was the toilet. <em>And you'd think eating food like that would be a better experience. <em>He thought to himself and laughed humorlessly.

After Sora was sure the rest of bile in his stomach was expelled, he grabbed a cup from under the sink and turned the faucet slightly to fill it up. He downed the glass carefully in hopes of getting the acidic taste off his tongue- but to no success for now. Sora sighed and crumpled the cup up and threw it away.

"So much for that." The brunette frowned. He swayed in his steps and his head was pounding as he put the clasps back on the dishes and set the tray on the desk.

Trying his best steady his stomach and head- Sora got back under the ocean of blankets and kept his pillow under his head and in his hands as best he could and fell into a rather difficult sleep. This time without such a disturbing dream in his shadows.

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><p>Sora awoke with a groan as a consistent beeping flooded his ears and cracked open his heavy eyelids. The brunette turned his head to the side facing his nightstand to find a small digital clock beeping off an alarm.<p>

Sora sighed heavily and buried his face in his pillow as he extended his arms and thrust his hand swiftly onto the button and the beeping ceased.

Though- as if the clock were cursed- the beeping filled the room once more. The brunette sat up with a frown and slammed his pillow onto the clock until it finally stopped beeping again and got out of bed.

"Stupid clock," Sora grumbled as he stretched his arms above his head and sighed as he let his arms fall to his sides once more. His blue eyes wandered around the room and spotted his food tray from the night before still on the desk.

Sora nodded absentmindedly as if the tray asked him a question and went into the bathroom and turned the knob in the shower before grabbing a change of clothes and closed the door as the steam filled the air.

After taking advantage of the steaming hot water droplets and ridding himself of all the filth from the day's previous travels and blood spills, Sora stepped out of the shower and dressed himself in a blue v-neck shirt and black shorts.

The brunette grabbed a small towel- using it to dry his chocolate brown hair to its natural un-gravitational ways- and stepped out of the bathroom to find another familiar brunette leaning against the desk.

"Good morning, Sora." Selphie smiled; Sora's towel now lay draped over his shoulders now.

He spaced out for a second and shook himself from his thoughts. "Oh, morning."

Selphie tilted her head. "You okay, Sora?" She gestured to the tray lying on the desk. "You don't seem to have eaten much either. Are you sick or something? I could talk it over with Xemnas if you want to skip out on training for now."

"Huh? No, No that's not it at all. I'm fine now, so it's okay." Sora said quickly and waved his hands in a defensive manner.

Selphie looked perplexed for a moment and smiled. "Alright then. Shall we be off now?" Sora nodded and laid his towel back on the counter in the bathroom. He quickly grabbed the crown necklace on his nightstand and clasped it around his neck before following Selphie out the door.

"I thought we could go to the cafeteria first before the training hall." Selphie muttered to herself in her stride.

"Right, about that," Sora started. "I can't keep relying on you guys to take me everywhere forever. Is there any way I could get a map or something? This place is way too complicated." He chuckled nervously.

Selphie just laughed. "Of course. I'll take you to our map maker right now, okay?" She said, suddenly jerking in her footsteps to a hallway on the right.

Sora quickened his pace to keep up with her stride. "Is that really their job? Being a 'map maker'?"

"Sort of, she has a photographic memory so as long as she's seen a place once if we need directions for it later, we go to her. She also helps to provide blueprints for any new weapons or buildings we need to create because she knows how the structures work," Selphie explained; making quick turns at nearly every corner the two brunettes came across. "It's not a very eventful job, but she's the best we got."

"Sounds pretty amazing if you ask me. It'd pay pretty well to have a skill like that."

Selphie laughed. "True; if only more of us were gifted with that ability." She took another turn down a shorter hallway which led to a small, light blue wooden door with a rusted circular handle.

"Well, here we are."

Selphie stepped aside and gestured to the doorknob. "After you."

Sora nodded and swung the door open. This room was just as white as the rest of this underground fortress. Although the whiteness here felt like more of purity and innocence, the rest of the area's white carried more of what felt like emptiness or some sort of fear.

The room itself was fairly large; tables, desks and chairs were littered with futuristic computer monitors, maps and blueprints of all kinds. Some of the papers looked older and worn, as if they'd been used and viewed at millions of times.

At one of the desks with a small notebook in hand and sitting in front of a monitor was a small, almost pale-skinned girl. She had light blonde hair that draped over her right shoulder and bright blue eyes and a seemingly unconsciously placed thoughtful smile; something about her face- especially her eyes- struck a chord in Sora's memory. The girl was also wearing a ruffled white shirt and a black pencil skirt with black flats.

"Heey Namine!" Selphie called out happily as she scurried over to the blonde- or Namine, apparently- who seemed shaken out of her own little world.

"Oh, hey Selphie." She replied. Her blue eyes wandered to Sora's awkwardly placed form by the door. She turned away from Selphie toward Sora and smiled warmly.

"You must be the newbie that everyone's talking about lately. I'm Namine, it's nice to meet you." Namine bowed slightly with her hands folded over each other in her front.

Sora stuttered at first. "Huh? Oh, right. Uh- I mean- I'm Sora Hikari. It's nice to meet you too." It felt strange being greeted normally in this bizarre place when everyone else so far seems to know every little thing about him.

Namine giggled with her hand half-covering her mouth. "Anyway, what are you two doing here? I'm sure this is nowhere near where you supposed to go. You couldn't have stopped by just to say hello."

Selphie laughed and scratched the back of her head. "Well you got us there. Sora asked about a map so he wouldn't have to get lost or always have to ask for directions, so I brought him to you."

"If it's no trouble anyway." Sora interjected. Namine shook her head.

"No, it's no trouble at all. Now I don't have any copies of it at the moment, so I'll have to draw it out myself. It'll be a little while till I'm done, so you can just stop by again when you're done with whatever Xemnas has you doing today."

"Alright then, thanks Nami. We'll be back later, bye-bye!" Selphie hugged Namine and quickly exited through the door. Sora made to follow the cheery brunette but paused.

"One question, Namine: something about you seems familiar, have we met before?" He asked; it seemed unlikely, but there was just _something_ about her that rung in Sora's mind.

Namine just laughed. "I get that a lot. We've never met before, but you have been acquainted with my sister."

"Sister?"

"Yes, my twin sister actually. Now come on, think about it. We have the same eyes." Namine hinted. Sora was already in a thinking pose consisting of his hand on his chin and his eyes closed in deep thought. _A twin sister with the same eyes as her, let's see…_

Wait a minute.

"It's… Kairi, isn't it?"

Namine nodded. "You got it. Now, go catch up with Selphie before she leaves you behind."

"Oh, right. Sorry about that, see ya Namine!" Sora smiled and rushed out the door after Selphie.

"Oh and don't forget to stop by later for the map too!" Namine yelled out before the door slammed shut and she sighed. "I hope he heard me."

The blonde turned back to her notebook and shut it with a light thump.

"So that boy is going to be Sis' new partner, huh?" Her eyes strayed to a small framed photograph of three little girls; one blonde, one a redhead, and the other black-haired. The three had cheery grins on their faces without a care in the world. Namine smiled softly.

"This should be interesting."

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><p><strong>Alright more plot to work out Meh<strong>

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review for I'd love to get more and maybe even more readers too.**

**I'll get to work on the next chapter as soon as possible. I look forward to seeing you again.**


	6. Beginner

**Hey people.**

**I'm sorry I'm always so far away from each update I make, things happen, I get writer's block, etc. I'll stop making excuses now.**

**Enjoy the chapter.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

**Beginner**

After Sora exited Namine's room, he quickly asked Selphie that she take him to the training hall instead of the cafeteria; as he still didn't feel quite right from the night before. Selphie shot a concerned glance his way before accepting his request without any questions asked; to which Sora was relieved.

The training hall smelled strongly of gun powder and metal. What with there being racks all along the walls of the large room littered with weapons of all kinds; swords, daggers, pistols, shotguns, machetes, whips, bows and arrows, anything that could classify as a tool of destruction. In the far back left side of the room was a small shooting range with the separated stations and the hanging paper targets with people rooted down in around half of them with ear plugs in firing carefully and rapidly.

On the opposite side of the room was a simple obstacle course with practice dummies and large targets, monkey bars over a pit of disturbingly shining rocks that seemed to almost made of fire; possibly to "encourage" someone to get through the course successfully. There were also separate doors leading to what seemed like more training rooms and some leading to the outside's gardens that Sora had seen when he arrived here.

Different areas of the hall were occupied by some of the other residents of this mad place.

There was a girl that looked a couple years younger than Sora with short black hair and brown eyes with a strip of black cloth tied across her forehead and khaki shorts with a black top and black converse boots throwing around a giant shuriken. Her mouth spread into a wide grin and she bounced and cheered herself happily as the shuriken returned from its trip of slicing at least 4 thickly padded mannequins.

In another area of the hall were two people in the black cloaks- one being the blonde girl Sora had before, Larxene, he remembered- that seemed to be sparring. Larxene was using her knives again- of course- with what looked like electricity coursing through its steel blades.

The other black clad figure was someone Sora wasn't familiar with. The most distinguishable feature of this man was certainly his long, spiky bright red hair with emerald-green eyes to accent it. Underneath his eyes were what looked like small, black tear-drop-like tattoos of some sort. He had a wild grin spread across his face as he spun large metal discs- chakrams, Sora believed they were called- on his middle and index fingers in each hand with red flames dancing across the rims and spikes of the weapons.

There were plenty of other people spread across the training hall practicing in whatever skill they needed mastering; or had already mastered and just wanted some entertainment.

Such as a man that resembled the cloaked man fighting Larxene- except his red hair was tied back in a ponytail and bore sunglasses on top of his head and was clad in a simple black and white suit with the jacket unbuttoned- who was busy in the shooting with a friend dressed in the same attire but with the sunglasses over his eyes with darker skin and a bald head with the jacket buttoned up.

Sora even spotted Aqua jumping and swerving about in an obstacle course in a much more complicated outfit than the maid-style clothing she'd worn in the Hikari household(please just just picture her outfit from Birth By Sleep because I can't describe that thing very well at all). She was also accompanied in the course by a man with a similar hairstyle to Xemnas- only it was brown like Sora's own and also even had piercing blue eyes as well.

The two seemed to be carrying weapons similar to Sora's Keyblade, only with more complex designs and didn't carry the same blinding light from within, which puzzled Sora greatly. He might have to talk to Xemnas again, or at least someone else who knew about the mystical and mysterious Keyblades.

"Ah, so you finally came. About time."

Sora turned to find the pink-haired man from yesterday smirking at the brunettes with crossed arms. Sora frowned, while Selphie merely grinned happily and raised a hand in greeting.

"Heey Marly! Long time no see." She swung an arm over the man's shoulder, which was awkwardly done since he was so much taller than the two brunettes.

The man frowned in annoyance. "For the last time, Selphie- my name isn't Marly; it's Marluxia."

She only responded with a "Yeah, whatever" and walked away toward the exit. She passed Sora, saying she'd come back for him later when told to, and quickly made her exit.

The man- Marluxia- kept stone-faced. "Well, Sora, I'm your instructor for the day. And as much as I'd like to be doing something else," He swung out a huge scythe from out of nowhere. "I'll get to see the skill of the son of Vanitas Hikari." Marluxia nonchalantly spun the scythe in his hands.

Sora's frown deepened. Was there anything impossible in this insane place? This- pink-haired freak show just pulled out a gigantic scythe from thin air!

The brunette eventually sighed and gave up. "Fine then, so how do we start this?"

Marluxia frowned. "Right to the point then, huh? Well, how much do you know about fighting?"

Sora shrugged. "My father and some others taught me the basics of hand-to-hand and swordplay."

Marluxia seemed to ponder for a moment. "Alright then, that's enough to work with for now." Sora felt the familiar burst of light warm his body and felt the hilt of his Keyblade once more.

"Now, the Keyblade is a weapon of pure light; a weapon of magic. And that means you yourself can also use magic. We'll work on that some other time, though. Today is just everyday combat."

Marluxia smirked and gripped his scythe tightly, his gloved hands stressing under the pressure.

"Let's see how good you really are, Hikari."

* * *

><p>Another loud clang rang throughout the training hall as the two warriors clashed yet again; their weapons currently fighting for dominance of strength in the middle.<p>

Sora and Marluxia had been at it for hours; Marulxia being the most experienced of course, had an advantage over the brunette. But Sora still managed to hold his own due to his father running him ragged in the past.

But the brunette could still only go so far as his limbs were beginning to feel like lead and his breathing became fast and heavy.

Although Marluxia seemed to be in a similar state as well. His pink hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat, he was also breathing heavily as well- but he was still smirking like a fool.

Though finally Marluxia slid his scythe so that the contact between weapons would be broken; Sora raised a brow in confusion with his Keyblade still raised as a precaution. The pink-haired man shrugged. "Let's stop for today. We're both out of breath by now, anyway." He sighed heavily and plopped on the ground with a light thump to catch his breath and ease his muscles.

Sora nodded. "That's a relief; I was feeling like I'd crash at any moment." He laughed breathlessly and dropped to the ground as well as he dismissed his Keyblade in a flash of light.

Marluxia laughed and nodded. "Yeah, you know I gotta say- you're a lot better than I thought you'd be. Especially for someone who even skipped breakfast before coming here." Sora shot him a look.

"How'd you know?"

"What? You think I couldn't hear your stomach growling during the match? It's pretty hard to miss," Marluxia chuckled when Sora turned away to hide his embarrassment. The dark clad warrior stood up and made his way to a large bin and grabbed a towel out and tossed it to Sora. "Here. Wash up and we'll head down for some grub. The showers are right there at the far left corner of the training hall."

Sora nodded in thanks and hurried over to the doorway. The shower room was fairly large- understandable for a place like this. There was a wall dividing the room in half so each gender could have some privacy from each other. However, each stall was curtain-less; each with a shower head, soap, a sponge and the normal hair products and a hook on the side for a towel and clothes.

The brunette quickly stripped down- placing his necklace in the rolls of his clothing- and turned the handle until hot water rained down on him. The blood and sweat seemed to disappear in seconds as well.

Sora turns off the water after washing up and hears another shower head spraying- Marluxia must be using that one. The brunette quickly dries himself off and gets dressed again; clasping the necklace around his neck as he steps out of the shower room.

He shakes his head rapidly and water is flying in all directions. His chocolate spikes are still somewhat damp though; not sticking out as intensely as before. Just as Sora composes himself again, Marluxia steps out as well as he just finishes drying his long pink hair.

He looks around the area with a puzzled expression. "Why is there water everywhere out here?"

Sora clears his throat and shrugs. "Oh, uh, a dog ran past." He said quickly. Marluxia raised a brow in suspicion but shrugged it off.

"Alrighty then. Since we're all done; let's go."

* * *

><p>The walk down to the cafeteria was uneventful; not a word was said until they gathered the food they chose and sat at one of the many long rows of tables.<p>

"You know," Marluxia started, still chewing on his sandwich. "I'm surprised you fought as well as you did; considering what Larxene did your shoulder the other day."

Sora blinked. He hadn't realized it before; Rinoa's treatment must've really done the trick. The stitches were already beginning to poke out- a sign that he'll have to go back to her to get them out soon. Now there was just a thin, jagged scar from the knife's edges.

He rolled up his sleeve to show the man. "Same here, actually. I didn't think it'd get better so quick; I guess Rinoa's pretty amazing at her job isn't she?" Sora chuckled and Marluxia nodded.

"True, but I suppose it's understandable. It wasn't that serious to begin with anyway."

The brunette frowned. Not that serious? If a stab to the shoulder wasn't that serious, than these guys must put up with a lot worse injuries.

_But these people are murderers, I guess it makes sense._

Sora wondered if he'd get wounds much worse than this during his own mission- to defeat Sephiroth Crighton and avenge his family.

"Hey kid, your food's getting cold."

Sora jumped a little at Marluxia's voice. "O-Oh, right. Sorry." He chuckled again and twirled some spaghetti around his fork and popped it in his mouth.

The pink-haired warrior finished off his sandwich in seconds. "You know, you seem a bit chipper for someone who just lost his parents in one night." He said nonchalantly through his chewing.

Sora paused just before his pasta could reach his mouth again and set his fork down with a frown.

"It's not like I've had time to grieve. There's so much going on all at once- training, finding out that my parents were actually here before they were in Twilight Town, being dragged here and forced to work with the girl who had a hand in killing my father, dare I go on? Why'd you even bring it up?" Sora narrowed his eyes; clearly getting irritated. He knew that Marluxia probably didn't deserve the glare or anything; but it's not a subject people usually enjoy.

Marluxia shrugged indifferently. "Hey, I'm just saying. No need to get snappy," He stood with his tray in hand. "I'm afraid I have to leave. Don't go starving yourself now, kid." He smirked as he walked away.

"We'll need you to take down the demon."

And with that he was gone. _Demon._ Sora thought; "Demon" meaning Sephiroth, of course. It's true; that man is a demon. Anyone who'd want to neutralize an entire country was nothing _but_ a demon.

Sora looked down at his food- he didn't feel too hungry anymore. But Marluxia was right- they do need him to track this man down.

With that in mind, Sora began eating again. Though in the midst of the act, Sora spotted a flash of red hair pass him by.

It was Kairi; she was no longer wearing the dark gear that she had when they met- but rather a faded red V-neck shirt and black capris. She still looked as stone-faced as ever. Even as she ate whatever kind of salad she had thrown together.

Without a second's hesitation- Sora picked up his tray and made his way past other occupants to the seat in front of his new redheaded partner who looked up at him.

"What are you doing?" She asked. _Geez! She already sounds mad; I didn't even say anything yet!_ Sora inwardly panicked.

Kairi's eyes narrowed at Sora's silence; he cleared his throat. "Well, is it so bad for a guy to want to eat with his partner?" Partner. The word almost felt like poison at this point. While Kairi did give Sora the necklace- for some unknown reason- it'd take a while before the two could see eye-to-eye.

To Sora's surprise, Kairi merely shrugged. "I guess not, just don't be annoying or anything."

Without another word; the two ate in peace and quiet- well, as quiet as a full cafeteria can get anyway- until when Kairi nearly finished her salad, she slid a file she had by her side across the table toward Sora.

The brunette turned it and opened the small folder to view its contents. "What's this?"

"Our first assignment as a team." Kairi responded. The way she emphasized the word "team" was as if the word were foreign to her. Sora's eyes widened. _We already have a mission? So quickly?_

He cleared his throat. "I see. What is it we have to do exactly?" He asked; merely skimming the contents to distract himself.

Kairi shrugged. "Just take down some low-time crime boss in Traverse Town. That place is always full of trouble; we have to at least make living there a little easier for the residents."

"Traverse Town. Huh." Sora recalled the name. His mother had described the place to him once or twice. Despite its charming architecture and colors- the whole town was like ghetto. The only safe havens being the grave; some of the citizens may be kind- but most turned out to be gangsters or criminals of every kind. Sora shivered.

"Sounds just peachy." He grimaced; shutting the folder and sliding it back over to Kairi as she stood up and began to leave. She paused and turned around.

"Are you coming or not?"

Sora blinked. "Huh? But, I thought Selphie…" Kairi shook her head.

"She has some stuff to do for Xemnas. She said I should take you back instead." She said as she tossed her leftovers in a garbage can and set her tray aside. Sora did the same and followed when she walked off.

"Oh, wait. I'm supposed to stop by Namine's room again today before we head back." He paused when he received a glare from the redhead.

"And just what business do you have with my sister?" She asked- well, more like demanded.

"No, it's not anything bad I swear! She was just going to draw out a map of this place for me so I wouldn't have to keep being escorted everywhere." Sora said; clearly panicked that Kairi were to punch his lights out if he said anything that sounded suspicious to her.

She stared at him for a moment before sighing and walking again. "Oh, so you need to go to her office. Fine, whatever. Better than us all having to babysit all the time."

Sora glared at Kairi's back. _Babysit? Sure I'm a little lost- so what? We're probably even the same age!_ He growled under his breath.

Eventually they reached Namine's room- pardon; her office- and opened the door to find Namine to be doing the exact same thing as when Sora saw her the first time- drawing. He wondered what kind of things Namine drew in that look book of hers- memories, her own imagination, dreams or nightmares, maybe? He wasn't sure. The blonde looked up from her work and smiled at the sight of the two.

"Hey sis!" She stood and hugged her twin who merely patted her head. "Hey Sora. Oh!" She seemed to remember something as she separated from Kairi and over to her desk again and picked up a folded paper and handed it to the brunette who accepted it without a second thought.

"I just finished your map a few minutes ago," Sora unfolded the slightly large paper full of different boxes, rectangles and lines. "I've marked all the hallways, the numbers for all the bedrooms and wrote where each office or hall is located. Like this," She pointed to a small rectangle labeled "blueprints". "This is where we are. So you just have to follow this path," She traced a couple long, thin rectangles- Sora assumed those were hallways- before she stopped a room labeled with the number "111". "And it will take you to your room."

Sora frowned. "Our rooms have numbers?"

Namine smiled again- is it possible for her to smile any more than she already does? "Yes. You didn't notice? The numbers are close to the top of the door- carved in black. In fact," She pointed on the map to three more rooms on the map with numbers where she seemed to also have written letters as well. One was close to Sora's but with a K- this room being "105". Another was a hallway away- labeled with an S- this one was "218". Then the other was labeled with an N- the number was "230". "I've labeled mine, Kairi's, and Selphie's rooms with the first letters of our names so you know how to find us in case you need some help."

Sora grinned at the blonde. "Gee thanks, Namine. You thought of everything for this, huh?" Namine nodded happily.

"It was no problem, drawing maps is what I do, after all." She turned to Kairi who just shrugged.

The redhead started walking again and turned when Sora wasn't right behind her.

"Well? Are we going, or not?"

Sora huffed and held the map in front of him. "I can do it myself, thank you." He marched to the door.

"Bossy little ginger," He grumbled as he shut the door.

Kairi glared daggers at the door Sora left from. "That little… what did he just call me?" She growled as a dark aura enveloped her that could steer even the worst demons away in fear. She heard her twin giggle and the aura dissipated.

"What're you laughing at?" Kairi's eyebrow twitched with irritation when Namine wouldn't stop giggling softly.

"You two are just fun to watch is all," She finally stopped and smiled a little. "I don't think I've seen you have a genuine reaction like that toward anyone in quite some time," Her smile faltered slightly. "Not since the incident."

Kairi froze for a moment and frowned. "Namine…" She paused and looked toward the floor. "We promised not to talk about that anymore. We both know what happened and what it caused. It won't happen again. I'm never letting a partner that close to my heart again."

"I know what happened as well as you do- but at least think about it. Just let Sora in, he can help. His heart is one of pure light, after all. Please, sis," Namine placed a hand on Kairi's shoulder. "It'd make Xion happy."

Kairi squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and brushed off Namine's hand and went for the door.

"Like we actually knew what she would've really wanted."

* * *

><p><strong>Oh snap, plot development!<strong>

**I'm sorry if I'm(and I'm pretty sure I am) making people OOC. Fffff...**

**So, did anyone get a creepy thought from Sora's room being 111? My dad made me watch Silent Hill with him while I was visiting because I wouldn't shut up about it for some reason. But the music rocks! Anyway I started thinking of the evil room 111 from Silent Hill so..yeah**

**But Kairi's a ginger right? She's a natural redhead... albeit darker than most... eh, oh well**

**And I have to get my wisdom teeth removed in a few days so I'm freaking out about that..great**

**Anyway, please excuse any errors, also please review! There are some people reading this, I'd like to know what you think of it!**

**Hopefully I'll be quicker with the next update, see you next time!**


	7. 3, 2, 1, Start

**Alright so I finally managed to update a little earlier this time. Every chance I got I'd write.**

**So, some things happened..some that I regret and feel horrible about what it did to someone I care about..**

**Anyway, I'll stop going on about myself for a change, sorry this chapter is a little shorter. Please enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

**3, 2, 1, Start**

"Let's see… Namine said this was the right route, right? So then…"

Sora glared at the map before him as if it were tricking him and traced the lines that were hallways only to lose track once more. "Damn it! I lost my place again!" Sora cried out in frustration; but was interrupted when he bumped into someone head on- the map crumpling ever so slightly. The brunette lowered it to face the man.

"Oh, geez, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…" Sora paused. Silver hair. Silver hair only made Sora think of Xemnas or Sephiroth; but this guy was different.

For one, his hair was shorter- coming down in spikes both at the ends. He also had bright, turquoise eyes- like the ocean, almost. He was wearing a white, sleeveless shirt with black rims and black collar. He was also wearing baggy jeans with white and yellow boots. He was looking at Sora curiously.

"Hey kid. You alright?" He asked- shaking Sora out of his scanning daze.

"Oh, right, sorry about that."

"No, it's fine. I don't think I've seen you around here before. Are you that newbie everyone's talking about? Who's your partner?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, my name's Sora," The brunette extended his hand in greeting and the silver-haired man shook it in return. "And my partner is-"

"Hikari! What're you doing bothering other people again?" Sora heard said partner's annoyed voice once more and he frowned.

He turned and saw Kairi had stiffened slightly and glared at the silver-haired man Sora had just met.

"Riku." She muttered in some sort of greeting.

"Kairi." The man- Riku- did the same.

"What do you think you're doing? And Sora- you were supposed to be in your room by now. Our mission is tomorrow morning." She said; seemingly irritated already.

Sora frowned and held the folded map up. "I got a little off track is all, so I'm a bit lost again. I was just going to ask this guy for some directions. You're not the boss of me you know."

Kairi shot a look at Sora and he shut up. The redhead turned to Riku once more. "And what do you think you're doing here? Trying to taint another of my partners now?" Kairi spat; her own words seemed as if they were dripping with acid.

Wait. Taint? What happened there?

"I didn't do anything. And you know damn well I didn't do anything then either!" Riku growled. Whatever these two were arguing about seemed to go pretty deep. Sora backed away a couple steps in case one of them sprang into action.

Kairi growled in response but stood firm; seeming to contemplate what she should do or say. Eventually she just turned and let out a noise of frustration.

"Fuck this; I'm not going over this stupid subject again and again with you. I'm done."

Riku seemed to get fed up as well and just left without another word. Sora frowned; what were they fighting about?

Kairi stormed off toward where Sora could only assume was her room; she moved her head in a gesture to follow but not speak so he wouldn't get lost or make her even angrier.

Despite Sora getting tired of the redhead's antics- he'd like to finally reach his room again and decided to follow. Yet another silent walk.

Kairi opened the door to her room and paused.

"Don't forget- we have to leave in the morning for Traverse Town. Be up bright and early; got it?" She still sounded dreadfully irritated. It was a little scary; Sora would just have to get used to it, he supposed.

The brunette nodded. "I got it."

Kairi shut her door and Sora did the same.

After Sora laid the map on his desk and slipped off his shoes- he jumped onto the bed and lay across it.

"What was that about?" He whispered; staring at the ceiling as if hoping it'd carry the answers in its rough textured surface.

Sora sighed and turned his head- facing his open palm. His first mission as Kairi's partner- as an assassin- was starting tomorrow morning. He'd barely even been here two days or even really trained at all- despite the practice from his father. Their target was some small-time crime boss; would he have to kill this man himself? With own bare hands- or most likely his Keyblade- or would Kairi take the initiative and end him herself? Or will the troubles of Traverse Town merely swallow them whole and that'd be the end of that- no missions, no revenge, nothing.

And then Sephiroth would be able to use that weapon to rule over them all.

Sora would never be able to avenge his family; he wouldn't be able to help anyone.

He felt a flame suddenly burst and take control deep down inside him. His hands clenched into tight fists and his eyes hardened into focus as he sat up- feeling the familiar light in his hand as the Keyblade came to life once more.

"No. That won't happen. I can do this; I won't get swallowed up. I won't let Sephiroth win. If he does, I…" He muttered; the Keyblade suddenly seemed to weigh more in his hand- as if it were carrying his will and determination with him. Sora sighed. "I can't afford to think like that."

He set aside his Keyblade and it disappeared in a flash of light. Laying back down again, he stared into the rough ceiling once more.

"But… will I be able to kill?"

* * *

><p>The next morning went by in a flash- Sora woke up bright and early just like Kairi said, after showering and getting dressed in the clothes his mother and Aqua had given him, the redhead was already at the door, supplies and an assortment of blades at her side.<p>

Now the two were venturing up the stairs to the cathedral outside where they first arrived before. The strong smells of the herbs and spices just outside made Sora have to cover his mouth and nose with a gloved hand.

"How do you stand the smells out here?" He asked, his voice muffled from his hand. Kairi just shrugged.

"You get used to it. Now come on." She started walking toward the edge of town. Sora ran to catch up.

"Wait- we're not walking the whole way, are we? That'll take way too long; Traverse Town is a lot farther away than Twilight Town is."

"You think I don't know that? Quit freaking out- we're prepared." The two passed the various buildings and the large gate Sora remembered from the other day; he was suddenly overcome with a large amount of big feathers in his face.

Sputtering them all out with distaste- Sora rounded on the culprit and paused.

Large, yellow feathers, a bright orange beak with legs to match- "A chocobo?" Sora breathed; he got a squawk in response from the large bird. There were two of them- both had saddles on their back and reins secured around their heads that drooped down their long necks. Sora took a step closer to one and stroked its neck lightly. The bird made a cooing noise and nuzzled his cheek.

"How?" He turned to Kairi. "I thought all chocobos went extinct ages ago."

"Our organization has its ways. The inhabitants of this old city had kept some in hiding during the attacks and the survivors managed to breed enough of them at a time that they've stayed around all these years." Kairi mounted the other chocobo and Sora did the same cautiously.

He'd always heard the chocobos were a kind and easily trained species- apparently that was true, for the bird accepted Sora as its rider immediately and the two set a course for Traverse Town as soon as Kairi secured their supplies to one of the buckles on the saddle.

Not long after the birds took off at high speed in the direction of Traverse Town, the ride grew silent for a long time. Some hours passed; and Sora began to get impatient.

"How long till we get there?" He called out- Kairi was a couple yards ahead so he sped up his chocobo some to keep at the same pace.

"About a day and a half." Kairi replied; Sora nodded.

Eventually it grew silent between them once again- the only noise being the rush of the wind past their ears and the occasional squawk from the chocobos.

When Sora had been out here before, it was nighttime. He'd thought the area was just a huge barren wasteland since it'd been so dark and all the dark shapes of the land melded together looking like nothing but dirt and rocks.

But now that the sun was out- he could see that he was wrong. There were large fields of vibrant, healthy green grass that stretched on for miles- sometimes reaching as high from the ground as the base of the chocobos' necks. Any other wildlife out here would find this place to be heaven.

The only reason Sora had assumed it was all dirt before was that they'd been walking on the wide dirt path that seemed to connect the towns together.

Sora sighed. If all he could distract himself with were details- it was going to be a long ride.

* * *

><p>Chocobos seemed to sleep together like they were family- their heads on each other's backs and nuzzled so close together they looked like one being and not two or three or even four.<p>

This was currently how Sora and Kairi's chocobos were nestled together- Sora was sure he'd find it adorable were they not on their way to go kill someone tomorrow.

The sun had gone a couple hours ago- when Kairi suggest they set up camp for the night. A fire had been set up in a small area that just happened to not have any grass in it so the rest of the field wouldn't burst into flames. The chocobos lay sleeping soundly in the tall grass nearby and Sora and Kairi sat up opposite from each other facing the fire with thin, beige blankets wrapped around them tightly- for the night air was crisp with a chilly breeze.

Kairi seemed to be trying to have a staring contest with the fire; considering the way she was staring ito the flames. Sora just sat staring at the ground- still troubled by the events of the day before. What was Kairi so angry at Riku about?

He glanced at the redhead for a moment. Should he ask? Would she just bite his head off again or something? Either way; he had to at least try.

"Kairi?" He started- trying to get her attention first. The redhead looked up. "What were you arguing with Riku about yesterday? It sounded really important."

Kairi's eyes seemed to harden as her grip on the blanket tightened.

"Look Hikari, if you want to stay on my good side- you won't even think about asking about it," Sora held back any other words that would escape him. Hard ass or not- he didn't want to get on Kairi's bad side again. "Just get some sleep; we need to reach Traverse Town by noon tomorrow at the earliest."

Sora sighed and pulled his blanket closer around him; still staring into the flames dancing across the charred wood when he shut his eyes. He wondered what his first mission would be like when they got there. Would it be simple? How long would it last?

The brunette felt sleep tugging at him harder and harder when he finally let it take him.

_Maybe it won't be so bad._

* * *

><p>"Traverse Town doesn't look as scary as I pictured. Maybe it won't be so bad, huh Kairi?" Sora said hopefully.<p>

Kairi scoffed. "Tch. Please, this town is every bit as bad as the stories claim. It may look okay now, but that's going to change soon enough."

Kairi was definitely right though- one thing Sora hated to admit. He remembered years back when he was a child and his father would have to make business trips over to Traverse Town he'd be gone for days on end, whenever he'd return his mother would be all over him in tears of happiness that he'd made it back safely.

Though now, Sora wondered if his father had come here for business dealings, or to commit another murder for these self-righteous assassins.

There weren't many people on the streets, though just to be safe they kept their chocobos hidden about a quarter mile away from the town itself.

Traverse Town wasn't always a ghetto though- not anything of the sort. It was once for those who had nowhere else to go- nomads, exiles, orphans- who could make a living for themselves here. Though, at some point, an infestation of some of the more violent type had begun- resulting in the Traverse Town that exists today. It was sad, people came here with hopes and dreams; now there is only dread and contempt.

Sora sighed. Dwelling on the past wouldn't get this mission done. "So, who's our guy?" He asked; Kairi pulled out the file from her bag.

"His name is Seifer Almasy. Blonde hair, blue eyes and a scar going across the bridge of his nose. Apparently he's like some crooked tax collector- taking as much munny at a time as he could from the townsfolk for them to be able to continue living here. When they didn't have enough cash on hand- he offed them without a second thought." The folder flapped shut and Kairi put it back in the bag silently.

Sora frowned; a crooked tax collector? What's the world coming to? "Sounds like he'll be a little tough to find."

Kairi shook her head. "Not really- guys like this like to have a big image and don't care who sees them. Chances are he'll be in some flashy bar or a small casino or something." She said, her eyes scanning the streets for any signs of Seifer's whereabouts.

Sora sighed and folded his arms behind his head as the two began to weave their way through the dark streets. "Guess we better get ready to have to deal with a real pain in ass then, huh?" Kairi scoffed.

"That's certainly one way to look at it."

* * *

><p><strong>Alright more plot development. Someone asked me last time about when or if Riku would show up. I couldn't think up any other times that could work so..here it is.<strong>

**Now, some events. I got my wisdom teeth removed(drugs are a bitch) and I miss the stuff I normally eat the way I want to normally eat them...ehhhhhh**

**I've done some more art projects and am currently working on others. Also, classes start next week for me. My first college year..fff I'm nervous.**

**So with all this stuff going on, it might be a little longer till I update again, mostly considering my terrible writer's block.**

**Please review, bye bye**


	8. The First is the Hardest

**Ok people, chapter 8 is finally here!**

**I've been incredibly busy with my first year of college(so exhausting with an 18-pound bag. ugh) and all the work that comes with it. Plus I've been a little distracted by some more personal issues/problems/annoying lately on top of stupid writer's block..so there's that.**

**Oh, and I was in Seattle for a couple days for my cousin's wedding, so if you want to see some pics of that, just go to my DeviantArt: Teirra-Misaki**

**Anyway, on with the chapter.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

**The First is the Hardest**

Sora let out a yell of frustration as he and Kairi stepped out of a large bar. "And there goes our eighth attempt. I thought this guy was supposed to be easy to find! Why is this taking so long?"

Kairi waved off his annoyance. "He's probably on the move between bars or something. Surely you can't expect every bad guy you look for to just land in your lap when you want them to."

"No, I don't want smelly crooks sitting on me. That's just creepy." He huffed, making a pouty face as he folded his arms.

Despite the search becoming rather… _tiresome_- getting to see new things other than blindingly white walls everywhere was a nice change of pace.

Although, the buildings were all old and worn down- the paint chipping away at the edges to reveal a few bricks were missing, several cracked or broken windows with curtains and blinds stained yellow from age and sunlight- and there was a heavy stench in the air, one unlike the smell of alcohol or smoke and pollution.

"It's getting late," Kairi started. "We should find a place to stay for the night."

Sora looked toward the sky and nodded, sure enough- the sun had nearly completely disappeared behind the hills for the night.

They walked into another run down building with a neon sign that said "Traverse Inn OPEN 24 HOURS" with some of the buzzing lights dimmed out only to darken a few of the letters.

The carpeting was not unlike the kind you see in some classrooms. Flattened in lines where it was indicated that people or carts had come down that way more than enough times to wear it down. There were also bleached areas in some spots where stains might've been at some point.

The lights on the walls were centered in between some mirrors or windows and were a dimmed yellow-orange color. In the far back of the room was a large desk in front of a rack full of hotel room keys with a bored-looking girl with her brunette hair tied back in a lazy bun wearing a green vest with the hotel logo and name on it.

Kairi stepped up and tapped the small bell on the desk with a ping. The girl looked up from the teen magazine at her.

"Need a room?" She asked. Her name tag gleamed in the light that read out "Candice".

Kairi nodded. "Just for one night." Candice nodded and grabbed a key from the wall. She raised a brow when noticing Sora standing awkwardly a couple feet away.

"Are you two _sharing_ a room?" She asked, frowning when Kairi nodded. "You got a problem with that?"

Candice shook her head and sighed. "No; here," She handed the keys to Kairi. "It's a _two beds_ room."

Kairi laid the money for the room and went to the room with Sora in tow. Candice shot Sora a quick wink and resumed reading her magazine.

The brunette shut the door behind him and sighed heavily. "What was that about?"

Kairi raised a brow at him. "Are you serious?" Sora shrugged. "Wow, you're probably the most dense guy I've ever met."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sora huffed in annoyance.

"Just that if you can't even tell when a girl is checking you out or jealous than you're doomed." Sora's cheeks reddened.

"O-Oh whatever."

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><p>The moon at its highest cast an eerie glow of the town. In a way, it actually looked more welcoming at night. The street lights were all lit along with the other neon signs spread throughout the roads and there was a surprisingly small amount of people in their thick hoodies strolling across the sidewalks.<p>

Sora stared at the scene from his spot on the roof of the inn in silence. Kairi was still in the room downstairs- probably asleep by now. But Sora for some reason wasn't able to sit still. Maybe because their target could be anywhere from ten feet away to on the edge of town, possibly keeping his reputation by ending someone's life who hadn't given him what he'd asked for.

A loud, irritatingly obnoxious laughter broke through the silence, making Sora jump in surprise. He looked over the rook's ledge into the alley to find a tall blonde man with two awkwardly dressed girls under his raised arms.

"Wait a second…" Sora said; the man looked awfully familiar. Then it hit him.

That's Seifer! Their target!

Sora quickly stood to head back and alert Kairi. He swung the door to the top floor open and rushed through only to blindly bump into something solid- and soft.

Kairi shot a look like one would when a child voiced one of those brutally honest insults they didn't understand. Being closer together like this- Sora noticed that he was actually a little taller than Kairi. Just by an inch or two, though.

"Kairi, I saw-" Kairi raised a hand.

"Seifer. I know; let's get this done quick."

She was already watching Seifer from her bird's eye perspective of the rooftop in seconds. Sora had a look of confusion.

"But how did you-"

"I have a window, Sora, and ears. You know- those things that everyone has? They come in pretty handy."

Sora frowned. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. So how are we going to catch him?"

Kairi shot him an incredulous look. "'Catch him'? Since when do assassins merely catch people?"

Silence.

"If you want this over quick, then just watch how the pros do it."

And in a second Kairi back flipped off the roof with ease and grace. Sora raced over to the ledge to find her swinging and jumping down the different floors of the fire escape. He hurried after her as fast as he could down the fire escape's stairs.

"So how are we going about this?" Sora asked when Kairi flipped around a bar at his level and they made it down safely.

She landed almost silently as Sora jumped from the opening to the ground. "We wait. When he goes into a building we can make our move. Best not to ambush the gang boss who has guards at every corner out in the open."

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><p>"How many prostitutes does one man need to pull along before he's finally done for the night?" Sora asked irritably, watching as Seifer went into yet another building; leaving the next two girls behind and coming out with three more.<p>

"You don't want to know; trust me." Said Kairi as she bit out of an apple. Sora gave her a confused look and shook his head.

"I… No, I really don't."

"So where's he going now?"

"Looks like an old warehouse or factory," Sora watched as Seifer shooed his women away and entered inside. "He's alone now. Should we go in?"

Kairi nodded. "Yeah. I'll go in from the front, you do the back. We still have to have some stealth before this guy is history. I have an idea."

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><p>"Another day, another 1000K." Seifer smirked, thrusting his arms in the air in a stretching motion as the door behind him shut. Feeling he'd had a successful day.<p>

"Oh I'm afraid that'll be the last '1000K' you ever make, Seifer Almasy." Kairi's voice rang behind him; he turned to her with a frown.

"And who the hell are you?"

"Your assassinators."

"And we're here to carry out the mission." Seifer turned again to find Sora standing at the opposite door, still looking a little weary.

The blonde just stared blankly at them both before smirking at nothing and began laughing hysterically.

"Ha! Oh this is too rich! You're already killing me!" His laughter was finally dying down. "Your group wants me killed, but they send a girl," He waved an arm to Kairi. "And a rookie!" He did the same toward Sora who frowned.

There was a rushing sound of footsteps and a blur before a knife was at Seifer's throat. He froze at the cold contact of the metal and Kairi's frightful glare just inches from his face.

"If you want to stay alive another five minutes- I suggest you don't insult me." She growled.

Sora took a few steps forward and stiffened at the sounds of shouts and thuds from boots and guns being cocked simultaneously from all directions. He searched all sides to find dozens of black suits with shotguns and daggers and machetes all pointed at him and Kairi. Sora gulped and backed wherever his feet would take him.

Seifer smirked at Kairi who managed to keep cool and composed. "And I suggest you don't kill me if you want to stay standing for five more seconds."

Her eyes scanned the room before landing on the nearly scared stiff Sora. His eyes turned to her in the darkness and she blinked. He nodded wearily.

She slowly edged the knife away from Seifer's throat and backed off, closer to Sora.

Seifer grinned. "See? You can't kill me with all my guards here. I always win."

Kairi seemed to validate his point by putting a hand to her chin and looking at all the guards.

"Hm, well it is true we can't kill you with them here, but," Seifer raised a brow. "You haven't won yet."

Kairi grabbed Sora by his belt and he let out a small cry of surprise as suddenly the two were quickly strung up by a cord on Kairi's shoulder to the beams holding the warehouse together above.

"Shoot on sight! Go!" Seifer shouted and his guards aimed their guns this way and that.

The two reached the beams and Kairi planted themselves on the closest one and retracted the cord when they were secure. Sora took a step back. "Jesus Christ, Kairi!"

"What? I told you the plan already, so why're you freaking out now?!"

"Well I didn't know you'd take me by the belt!" Sora's cheeks reddened in the darkness around them.

Kairi paused. "Yeah, well- that-that's just how it played out." She swore at herself under her breath for stuttering and opened her jacket.

The inside of the jacket was lined with rows of small grenades and smoke bombs; taking out several grenades, she handed half of them to Sora.

"I'll take the right side, you take the other. We'll be dropping these bombs on the guards and then I'll take down Seifer. Mission complete. Got it?" Sora nodded. "Good. Go."

He took his side and pulled the pin off one grenade and dropped it where most of the guards had accumulated. He ducked as the explosion and loud screams sounded and debris was sent flying in all directions.

More explosions sounded from Kairi's side and smoke began to rise- something must've caught on fire there. Seifer's shouts and orders somehow managed to reach several octaves above the explosions.

Sora tossed a couple more grenades in a scattered manner after pulling off the pins as quickly as he could. The screams of Seifer's men rang in his ears like nails on a chalkboard, but he tried his best to drown them out. Then, Kairi's hand patted his shoulder and he turned to her looking alert and ready.

"I'm going down now. Stay put!" She said over the explosions; he could barely make out what she was saying and nodded.

She began making her way down after tossing one more grenade- ridding the warehouse of the last of the armed guards.

Smoke filled the warehouse- making it difficult for Sora to see from above. But through the smoke he could hear Seifer's violent coughs as the smoke began to fill his lungs.

"Dammit. They're all dead by now." Seifer growled.

Kairi inched through the smoke carefully. Turning toward where she previously heard the gangster's voice. Hearing a sound behind her, she threw one of her knives blindly. Inching closer to her target, she found it to be a mere barrel that had fallen over. She bent down and yanked out the knife.

Suddenly strong arms grabbed her shockingly from behind. She gasped and reached for another knife when she dropped the first only to have her wrist grasped firmly and painfully and cold metal pressed to her throat and she froze in her movements.

"Nice try, bitch. But you're not getting me that easily." Seifer chuckled venomously, pressing the knife a little closer and drawing blood in the process. Kairi gasped lightly and growled.

"You bastard."

Sora could barely make out one mashed form as the smoke began to clear, finding the mashed form to be Seifer holding Kairi in place. He gaped at the scene before him- Seifer's large form directly against Kairi's back, one hand holding Kairi's firmly, the other wrapped around her neck with a slightly reddened knife pressed against it.

"Come on out, brat. I've got your girlfriend." Seifer called out. Kairi let out a loud growl in protest.

"No Sora! Stay back!" Seifer pressed his arm closer to her throat and she whimpered slightly from a lack of breath.

"Come on, _Sora_. Don't you want her to live?" He teased before letting out a loud bark of laughter and Kairi seemed to flinch as it was loudest next to her ears.

Sora gulped and lightly paced back and forth across the beam. _Oh no. Oh no. What do I do? What _can_ I do?_

Seifer pulled him from his thoughts. "Don't have much longer, Sora. Make your choice or I'll make it for you!" He laughed again.

"You're a monster." Kairi muttered gruffly. Seifer just laughed. "Yeah. I know."

She was about to fire back once more, but was cut off by a battle cry of some sort. The both of them looked up to find Sora raining down on them- Seifer specifically- with Keyblade in hand. The blonde quickly shoved Kairi to the floor and stepped aside when Sora hit the ground with force so great it shook the ground they stood on.

"Sora," Kairi breathed, struggling to sit up as he stood slowly, yet menacingly.

"Whoa," Seifer laughed, stumbling back slightly. "That was quite the drop. So you care about your bitch after all?"

Sora whirled on the blonde with a glare so cold it could freeze a lake if he desired so. The Keyblade gleamed dangerously in the moonlight from the windows. "She's not a bitch," he breathed. "She's my partner. Kairi… Kairi's my friend!" He charged at Seifer with unrelenting force and anger that sent the blonde skidding back with the knife he parried the blow with. Barely managing to do so at all.

His smirk and taunts had left him when he realized Sora's newfound strength; all that remained was the cold murderer underneath. He pushed Sora back and swiped at his with the knife, only leaving a shallow cut near where Rinoa's stitches had been poking out, ready to be removed.

Sora swung his Keyblade forward and pierced Seifer's shoulder; the blonde cried out in pain and Sora took this moment to swat the knife out of his hands and Seifer grasped the wound as if hoping the pain would go away. He glared at Sora through pained blurriness. "You little brat." He pulled back and curled his good hand into a fist and swung forward. Sora just caught it with his own hand with little to no effort- adrenaline and need for protecting Kairi clearly fueling his strength.

He pushed Seifer's hand away and kicked him to the ground. He stomped as hard as he could on the blonde's calves and a sickening cracking noise echoed off the walls along with Seifer's pained screams. Sora seemed unphased by this and knelt in front of the blonde, Keyblade raised to strike.

"Oh no," Kairi's breath hitched. She stood as best she could to reach Sora in time. "Sora, no-!"

"You won't be hurting anyone ever again." Sora muttered and smashed the Keyblade down on Seifer's head, piercing the skull with ease.

Kairi froze momentarily when Seifer's life blood splattered in all directions- most of it sticking to Sora's skin and clothes. She saw that the hands holding the Keyblade in place were shaking violently and she hurried to his side.

"Sora! Sora, are you-" She cut herself short- realizing no concern for his wellbeing could make him forget the sight before him. The Keyblade buried in what was once Seifer's face and brains, blood covering the blade to the hilt and Sora being completely doused by the gunk. She laid a hand on Sora's trembling shoulders and he jumped like she was going to hurt him. "Sora, look at me. It's over now, you got him." he looked at her slowly; he looked sick, terrified, blood was all over his face and his blue eyes contrasted greatly despite how dim they now seemed through his tears.

"K-K-Kairi… I-I, I couldn't- I k-k-ki-"

"It's okay, Sora, you don't have to talk. Here, let go of the Keyblade," She turned from Sora momentarily, who seemed to be gasping for breath, and went to pry his hands from the murder weapon. They seemed to be almost glued to it like it was the only thing holding him together. She carefully but firmly pried his fingers off of the blade one by one and it disappeared in a flash of light as Sora fell forward, being caught by Kairi before he could land on Seifer. "There, all better now, right?"

Sora just continued shuddering violently as if he'd been stranded in the Atlantic, Kairi sat him up straight again and had him look at her again. His eyes had definitely dimmed considerably- seeming almost lifeless. Unable to think of anything else, she embraced him, hoping to at least lessen his sickened state. "Sora, I-"

She couldn't get another word in as he collapsed into tears on her shoulder. Kairi just held him in place as he sobbed heavily, not caring that it was soaking her jacket or that the blood and gunk on Sora was now rubbing off on her as well. She let him cry as much as he needed for what felt like an eternity before it dulled to light crying, like those who might cry at a funeral, after a couple hours.

Kairi rubbed up and down his back soothingly before slowing to a stop. "Alright, let's get you cleaned up, okay?" Sora nodded wordlessly as she helped him to his feet with one arm draped over her shoulders and her own around his waist to help him through, as he seemed to be literally scared stiff from before and therefore wobbly on his feet.

Kairi looked over her shoulder at the bloody mess behind them and sighed to herself. While killing was inevitable for a job like this- she'd been hoping to keep Sora pure for as long as possible. Until a kill on his side was necessary, of course. But it had come sooner than expected, and it'll only be a tougher ride from here on out.

Sora's had his first kill.

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><p><strong>Aww, poor Sora... I pictured someone's first kill being anything but fun so, hopefully trauma works for you.<strong>

**Now, while Kairi never seemed to like Sora much, she still knows how horrible the first kill can be, so she's just being a good partner at the moment, we'll see where this takes them.**

**Also, I've recently started a new story, the first chapter isn't up yet as I don't even have it done or have too many details worked out in my head yet, but it's going to be a RokuNami(Roxas/Namine) fic called "My Vanitas"**

**I got the idea from my art textbook, vanitas is actually a real word! But for some reason it doesn't slide with spellcheck..hm, but the term for vanitas is: an artwork that exists only to remind us of death. Fits perfectly for the guy, right? I thought so too.**

**So just let me know if you think it sounds interesting and I'll get to typing it up a little faster so that it can be viewed, I've never worked on 2 stories like this before so I may get a little lost here and there.**

**Anyway, tell me what you think, about both this chapter and the story if you like. So long for now.**


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